Creative ways to reduce stress at work

“Stress can be very destructive in the work environment, but it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom. While there are general ways to reduce stress in the workplace, as you can read in our post here, there are also some more entertaining ways that you can engage with everyone in the office to improve morale and reduce staff stress!
Exercise
Yes, we know this, you know this, everyone knows that exercise helps you in lots of different ways. But it’s exhausting to go to the gym before or after work, and there are plenty of perfectly valid reasons that you can’t find the time to dedicate to exercise.
However, you could make an office challenge out of something simple, like monthly walking challenges with a gift card at the end, or organising office football games.Social Events
The bonding that occurs by going out for a meal or having a crazy golf tournament builds strong relationships that reduce stress and conflict both in and out of the office environment. Spend time as friends and benefit from stronger relationships that will help socially and emotionally.
Fun Games
On a smaller scale, having a games room with a pool or foosball table provides a good break and can lead to some healthy competition with extended tournaments! You could also consider providing a quiet room where people can go to get some quiet time to focus on a task or relax for a few moments. Meditation is becoming increasingly popular, so you could also consider group meditation sessions.
Hide and Seek Challenge
This can be seasonal, such as an Easter egg hunt, or hiding a little Santa around the office, or a small thing that occurs all-year-round. The premise is that a treat or object is hidden around the office, and people are encouraged to keep an eye out to find it. This can encourage people to walk around the office more, talk to other people, and it’s a bit of harmless fun!
Create
Getting creative with the team is a great way to reduce stress. You could hold holiday decorating contests, or hold a little drawing competition each week. Something that will encourage people to express a bit of their creativity can help reduce stress. If they’re resistant to creating, then providing lego bricks or colouring books provide an outlet without as much pressure for something too challenging.
Stretch
Perhaps you can’t work in an hour-long gym session while in the office, but installing a pull-up bar over one of the doors might be enough to raise the heart rate. You can also stretch while at your desk, or move to a sit-stand desk to allow you greater flexibility while working. You can even designate specific times of the day when the team gets away from their desk for a few moments to work through stretches together.
Karaoke
Dancing and singing reduce stress by providing an outlet for pent-up energy and reduces tension. If you go as a group to a karaoke bar, this is the perfect chance to improve relations and let yourself relax! Dance and sing together can definitely improve everyone’s friendships, and help you learn what the team’s favourite songs are!
Laugh
Some of the common themes throughout a lot of these tips are to have fun and enjoy time together as a team. This helps you relax and reduces stress. Providing opportunities to laugh at work can drastically reduce stress. This could be through comedy nights or allowing the team to share funny videos (in moderation). Keep people happy and you and your productivity will benefit.
If you have any further ideas on how to improve your work by decreasing stress or increasing enjoyment, contact us. If you’re looking for anything that could help improve the health and ergonomics of your office, through sit-stand desks or better office chairs, take a look at our range here.”