Connect with your stress

STEP UP

Nail that deadline by aiming high. “High-intensity exercise will stabilise your levels of the stress hormone cortisol,” says Dr Stephen Bloom, a stress expert at Imperial College London. So 10-15 minutes before starting work, find your nearest flight of stairs and do three 30-second sprints up and down them. “This will boost oxygen flow to the limbic parts of your brain
– the areas responsible for dealing with emotional stress,” says Bloom. Plus you’ll know where all the fire exits are.

MILK IT

With your first coffee of the working day, pop a lactium tablet (Ethical Nutrients Stress and Anxiety Relief, $25.55/30 capsules; mrvitamins.com.au) to polish your mental armour before the other type of brown stuff starts hitting your desk fan. “Lactium is a unique protein found in breast milk,” explains pharmacist Angela Chalmers. “It works on the brain receptors that react negatively to cortisol, but doesn’t compromise positive stress responses.” Getting it in pill form means you won’t have to front HR for harassing lactating colleagues.

SEE THE WHOLE PICTURE

Some boyhood pasttimes should never be discarded. A study by psychologists at the University of Glasgow in Scotland found that colouring in for 2-3 minutes during times of high stress increased the likelihood of hitting deadlines by more than one-fifth.
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BREW UP

The choice you make for the crucial mid-morning cuppa could seriously streamline your output. US nutritionists at Tufts University found hibiscus tea combats the damaging free radicals produced by cortisol. “It’s long-term free-radical build-up that leads to that uneasy feeling you get under pressure,” says study author Dr Diane McKay. “Hibiscus fights these free radicals without lowering your adrenaline or cortisol levels, so you still feel energised.” Meaning you can leave your jitters behind you – along with your rivals.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

You can train your stress systems like any other part of your body. “So identify which stimuli cause you the most stress, then expose yourself to them,” says Neil Shah, of the Stress Management Society in the UK. Actively hunting cortisol spikes will help you to cope, and thrive, when they strike. Leave your comfort zone at least twice a month. You could take a new class at the gym, find an alternative way of getting to work, experiment in the kitchen or organise a social event. You’ll make more friends as well.

FACE YOUR FEARS

Getting negative with yourself can help push you into action and reap positive results.“Challenging yourself on reasons why you can’t do something kickstarts your reticular activating system – or RAS – which focuses your mind,” explains Shah. “Say to yourself, ‘You can’t do this’, when your demons rise, then list reasons why you can. This will give you extra pep to deal with your own personal enemy.” Yep, just like Rocky.