Stop Stress in 60 Seconds

60 seconds might seem like it’s too fast to do anything, but these stress-relief techniques can make your body and mind more relaxed. Practice them until they become habits you turn to when you feel stress.

Take a deep breath. Ground and center yourself quickly by closing your eyes and breathing deeply. Focus on inhaling through the nose, hold your breath briefly, then slowly exhale out through the mouth.

Stretch it out. Try to picture the muscles getting longer, which takes your attention away from the stressor and refocuses it on the body part you're stretching.

Determine what's going right. Obsess over the worst news of the day—particularly something you can't change—and you're looking at a downward spiral. So that deadline completely fell off your radar? No big deal, you just finished another important assignment—and totally nailed it. Aren't you so glad you spent your time on that?

Doodle. Creativity turns on the rational prefrontal cortex and may make everything floating around in your head more manageable.

Let your feelings out. Call your mom, talk to your neighbor or have a fast pity-party at your desk. The important thing is you get it out.