It sounds silly, but it is truer than true. The best cure for stress in the workplace [or anyplace, for that matter], is laughter. Don’t believe me? Think back to a time when everyone was stressed out about a project at work, there was an air of tension tinged with urgency. No ideas were coming. People were getting on each others’ nerves, and then Fred farts, and every one busts out laughing for 5 minutes. The mood lifts, and ideas start flowing.
It is often when comic relief of some sort takes place that ideas start generating.
Anna Hart, of Stress Management blog says that when we laugh, “the brain relaxes, refocuses, and is able to think more clearly and quickly. The end result is improved productivity and efficiency. Take time to laugh or smile broadly at stressors.”
A friend of mine was going through a particularly stressful time and came to me for advice. I felt sort of funny, and felt I might be oversimplifying, telling him to just laugh about it. But he came to me within a couple of days saying how well it had worked for him.
Try it to see how it works. Feel free to comment on how it worked for you...
photo credit:http://www.flickr.com/photos/53539456@N00/1509309418/
God knew I needed to read this post, Brooke, and I thank you for writing it! I woke up this morning stressing about bills, and although I know things will work out - they always do in some way or another - I was still letting the stress of the unknowing get in my way.
ReplyDeleteSo again, thank you for posting this. I definitely could use a good laugh to ease my mood today - and I know just how to do it, too! :)
so glad i could help, sabrina! it sounds almost too easy, but it really works!....b
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with this post! Laughter always helps - with stress, with sadness, with tension or anger. My brother is one of the funniest people I've ever met and I can't count how many times his sense of humor has helped our family through sad and difficult times.
ReplyDeleteYour post also reminds me of scenes from movies and television where humor was used to diffuse stress -- the funeral scene in the movie Steel Magnolias comes to mind.
Great post!
thanks, kristen! i had forgotten all about steel magnolias! great example!...b
ReplyDelete