Stress is unavoidable. Life happens, and seldom on a schedule. From job-related stressors that contribute to the growing burnout crisis to personal challenges we inadvertently bring to work with us, including health problems, financial strain, relationship and family issues, and more, stress can be unpredictable and permeate many areas of our lives.

Unmanaged or prolonged stress can affect our quality of life, do a number on our mental health, and diminish our job performance. Since we can’t avoid stress entirely, we must learn to build resilience and leverage the tools and resources available to help us manage stress effectively. Here are some practical tips for effectively managing stress and building resilience in the workplace to keep your professional (and personal) life upbeat and thriving.

What is Resilience?

Resilience is the capacity to withstand or recover quickly from difficulties or the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape. It is also defined as an ability to be “elastic.” A hair elastic, for example, bends and stretches to keep hair secured in a ponytail without breaking. This is an example of resilience.

In psychology, resilience is the ability to adapt and “bounce back” from a traumatic or stressful event. In other words, how easily you bend and stretch without breaking in the face of hard times—like that hair elastic—can determine the level of resilience you’ve built. People are typically considered resilient when they:

Possess an inner strength and have a generally positive outlook despite challenges
Deal with challenges and difficulty with ease, typically seeing the silver lining in any unfortunate circumstance
Don’t allow negative emotions to take the reins when they encounter challenging times

In the workplace, resilience is a prized skill and priority for many positions, especially leadership roles. Here are some skills resilient people embody:

A sense of humor
Adaptability
A generally positive outlook on life
Patience
Secure relationship attachments that promote engagement and collaboration
High level of self-awareness
An ability to emotionally regulate
Compassion for self

3 Tips for Building Resilience and Managing Workplace Stress

Learn to immediately identify stress in your life.

Just as small repairs needed in a home gradually worsen and become more costly, stress works similarly: By ignoring it or letting it fester, it can grow and exacerbate other challenges in your life than if you were to recognize and manage it in a healthy way. Practice self-awareness and identify the physical signs you are experiencing stress so you can address them head-on. These include:

Shallow breathing
A racing heartbeat and/or chest pain
Cold or clammy hands
Clenched teeth
Feeling withdrawn and unable to concentrate
Procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities
Incessant worry or anxiousness
Feeling out of control and/or overwhelmed
Trouble sleeping
Skipping meals or overeating
Stomach issues such as indigestion, diarrhea, or constipation
Increasing dependence on alcohol to cope

Practice healthy stress management.

Many cope with stress in unhealthy ways, such as binge eating, turning to drugs and alcohol, or digging deeper into work to deny themselves the chance to experience and manage existing stress. These and other counterproductive habits only add to the stress you’re carrying. Instead, once you acknowledge that you have a dysregulated nervous system, practice healthy stress management by doing one of the following:

Go for a walk to get some fresh air and cool down.
Perform deep breathing exercises which send signals to your brain that you are not in danger and will disarm your “fight-or-flight” response that stress has activated.
Prioritize personal time to focus, reduce tension, and promote relaxation. This can look like enforcing boundaries around your exercise regimen or sleep schedule, doing lower-impact exercises like yoga for the mind-and-body benefits, or prioritizing 15 minutes each morning for prayer, meditation, or writing in a gratitude journal.
Consider working with a therapist to address and respond to triggers and learn to manage stress in a healthy way.

Reframe the way you see problems and view them as opportunities and challenges.

A 2003 study shows that resilient people embody certain characteristics—one of those is seeing change as an opportunity or a challenge rather than a setback.

Shifting the way we think about something to a way that benefits us rather than something that causes us more work, hassle, or stress builds resilience, promotes higher emotional intelligence, and makes us better leaders.

So if you find yourself stuck in traffic and late for an important meeting, enjoy the extra time to listen to your favorite podcast. Consider that the person with an off-putting attitude in the checkout line may have just been given some horrible news about a loved one to help offset any anger you may feel interacting with them.

With a bit of practice, setbacks become exciting impromptu adventures that give you an opportunity to showcase your resilience, problem-solving ability, and positive, upbeat attitude in the face of uncertainty.

“It’s not stress that kills us, it’s our reaction to it.” ―Hans Selye

Visit the National Institutes of Health (NIH) website for additional resources and strategies for effectively coping with stress and anxiety.

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