How to Relieve Stress at Work | Foundations

Updated September 2026 | Reviewed by Chris Berger, M.A., LPC, NCC

You can relieve stress at work with five practical changes: organize your workspace, set realistic goals, protect your focus from interruptions, reframe how you think about stress, and get enough sleep. None of them require permission from your boss, and each one chips away at the pressure that builds during the workday.

Key takeaways

• Workplace stress is a global problem. The World Health Organization estimates 12 billion working days are lost to depression and anxiety every year, at a cost of about 1 trillion dollars in lost productivity.
• Clutter in your visual field competes for your brain's attention, so an organized desk is more than cosmetic.
• It takes about 25 minutes on average to get back to an interrupted task, which makes protecting your focus one of the highest-value habits you can build.
• How you think about stress changes how it affects you. Viewing the stress response as your body rising to a challenge is healthier than fighting it.
• Most adults need at least seven hours of sleep. Short nights make everything at work feel harder.

Why does work stress matter?

Workplace stress has crept into nearly every field and industry, and its weight adds up. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 12 billion working days are lost to depression and anxiety every year, at a cost of about 1 trillion dollars in lost productivity. You cannot control everything about your job, but the five habits below are within your reach this week.

How do I organize my workspace to reduce stress?

Start with what you can see. A study in The Journal of Neuroscience found that when multiple objects sit in your visual field at once, they compete for your brain's attention, making it harder to focus on the task at hand. Stacks of folders, empty coffee mugs, and stray sticky notes each claim a small piece of your concentration. Take a few minutes to clear your desk and organize your drawers, and notice how much quieter your mind feels.

Should I lower my goals at work?

Not lower, but more realistic. Aiming below your capabilities leaves you bored, while chronically unrealistic expectations leave you discouraged and up at night. The goal is a standard you can meet with real effort. When circumstances change, adjust the target rather than treating the original plan as a test of your worth. Reasonable standards keep you motivated; impossible ones just manufacture stress. If work pressure is bleeding into your career decisions, our career coaching page explains how counseling can help you sort out what you actually want.

How do I handle constant interruptions?

Ringing phones, unanswered emails, pinging notifications, and talkative colleagues all pull you out of your work, and the cost is bigger than it feels. Research from the University of California, Irvine found that people took about 25 minutes on average to return to an interrupted task. Create a quiet workspace when you are engaged in a project, batch your email into set windows, and resist the urge to check your phone. For more ways to protect your hours, see our five time management tips for stress.

Can changing how I think about stress actually help?

There is good reason to believe it can. In her 2013 TED Talk, How to Make Stress Your Friend, health psychologist Kelly McGonigal argues that how we think about stress shapes how it affects our health, and that viewing the stress response as the body priming itself to meet a challenge is healthier than treating it as an enemy. This is not about pretending pressure away. It is about regarding a racing heart before a big presentation as energy you can use.

How does sleep affect stress at work?

Skimping on sleep makes every workday harder. The Sleep Foundation recommends that healthy adults get at least seven hours of sleep per night. Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even on weekends, and avoid known sleep disruptors close to bedtime, including caffeine, alcohol, and bright screens. If stress and racing thoughts keep you awake night after night, our sleep therapy page covers when professional help makes sense.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the fastest way to reduce stress at work?

Start with your environment: clear your desk and silence non-essential notifications for your next block of focused work. Both changes take minutes, and each removes a source of strain your brain otherwise fights all day.

Why do interruptions make work so stressful?

Every interruption forces your brain to reload the task you left. Research from the University of California, Irvine found it takes about 25 minutes on average to return to interrupted work, so a scattered day leaves you busy but behind, which fuels stress.

Is some stress at work normal?

Yes. Deadlines and challenges naturally activate your body's stress response, and that response can help you perform. The problem is unrelenting stress with no recovery. If you feel tense, exhausted, or dreading work most days, that is worth addressing.

When should I talk to a therapist about work stress?

If stress from work is disrupting your sleep, mood, health, or relationships for weeks at a time, or if it follows you home no matter what you try, a therapist can help you build coping skills and address what is driving the pressure.

Clinically reviewed by Chris Berger, M.A., LPC, NCC.

If work stress ever tips into hopelessness or thoughts of harming yourself, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, any time.

Our caring therapists in Fort Collins, Loveland, and Windsor can help you cope with stress and live your best. Book a free consultation or call 970.227.2770. Your first consultation is free, and most new clients have their first appointment within about 48 hours.