Stress Management
Training Exercises and Resources

In today’s world, we seem to be constantly chasing something; a new job, a new house, more money, more time, new cloth, a new partner, a new car, a new gadget and on and on. This chase is becoming a major source of anxiety for many people. It is like you live in a world where you can have a lot, but you are not getting much. The problem is not with you though. The problem is that several significant trends in the past century have led to the explosion of content, products and experiences. The availably of all of this is of course great for society. It makes living richer and more rewarding but it also means that today’s people would feel that they are missing out on a lot; in fact, more so than any other people in history simply because we have a lot more available to use.

As such, to reduce any potential anxiety that arises as a result of all this abundance and our inability to have it all, we must consciously practice being content and appreciative. By being content we focus on what we desire the most and take pleasure in having it. By being appreciative we focus on what we already have and feel happy about our good fortunes.

Many techniques exist for practicing being appreciative or content. Here is an exercise that help you in this regard. The questions can be answered individually and with as much time as necessary. The following instructions are provided as a guide in case you want to use the exercise during a training course and then follow it with a general discussion.

A woman massages dummy ears with embedded super sensitive binaural microphones. Another presenter uses her nails on a wooden box to create a tapping sound. Someone squeezes shaving foam between her fingers and captures the sound effects. Another has discovered a jelly like toy in some toy store and is experimenting with it to see what sounds in generates.

This is ASMR and it stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. Search for “ASMR” online and especially on YouTube and you will be given thousands of videos offering you one form or another of stress-free relaxation. Video creators are hard at work churning one video after another and the world doesn’t seem to get enough of them. Many viewers tend to watch a favourite video over and over again or ask for specific variations and expect the creators to respond. What is going on?

The answer is simple; because watching these videos or listening to them makes people “happy”, “relaxed”, “euphoric” and “destressed.” The term ASMR was coined as early as 2010 but it has become ubiquitous thanks to the internet and how sub-cultures and societies form around common needs.

The mainstream media is now picking up on the phenomenon. It is not always sound either. There are videos where presenters move their fingers in front of the camera, effectively in front of your face and this leads to a hypnotic and mesmerising effect. Why people watch such videos?

Colour can change the mood. In this exercise you will immerse the delegates in various colours and encourage them to see the effect of each colour on their mood. You can then discuss various uses of colours either in the environment or when used in products, advertisements or in other content.

You can also combine this exercise with other training activities, so that while delegates are going through a particular exercise, they are immersed in certain colours. You can then address various topics all in one exercise.

This exercise helps delegates to become more aware of what they have and therefor appreciate where they are and how they are living. In our quest to become better and grow, we sometimes forget what we have or what we have achieved that we didn’t have before. Thinking of them periodically helps us to monitor our progress, become more confidence, happy and energetic. This is not a group exercise. Delegates can do this on their own.

This exercise helps delegates to understand the importance of several key principles, such as “Parkinson’s Law” as well as managing their performance in the face of change or increasingly challenging environments. It is also useful for teamwork, decision making, leadership and creativity. You can use this exercise to teach “Parkinson’s Law” in a time management course.

The digital age has made it possible to multi-task. Multi-tasking increases productivity because you can do more in a given time. But can you? With certain activities, such as driving while listening to an audio book, this is highly productive. With some activities, you may easily end up producing sub-standard quality or finish none at all.

Like everything, if used excessively, it can actually reduce productivity. People who multi-task too much may start to suffer from lack of concentration. For example, you may sit behind a computer and decide to write a report. However, lots of unrelated ideas about you latest emails, browsing, conversations or daily activities can pop up in your mind that constantly slow you down.

It pays to practice concentration, so that when necessary you can focus as if nothing else matters and give a task your 100% effort.

This is a fun activity which encourages delegates to be more optimistic and find positive points about some situations often perceived negatively. This exercise works best as an energiser and generates some laughs.

In this exercise, delegates explore the implications of stress and how it affects their workflow. In 1936, Hans Selye carried out extensive research on stress. He found that the body goes through 3 stages during distress:

• The body is alarmed
• The body’s resistance is increased
• The duration of the distress causes exhaustion.

These three stages are present in any stressful activity. If we want to get over our stress and reduce its impact, it is ideal to know which one of these is causing most of the problem so we can take steps to improve it.

This exercise uses a simple example to demonstrate the three phases.

This uplifting exercise can be used as part of a stress management course or any other training session where delegates are more likely to be stressed or under pressure. The activity encourages a proactive approach to problem solving and therefore can effectively reduce stress levels.

This is a fun activity which can be used as an energiser or icebreaker within any group of people. The physical movement associated with this exercise makes it ideal for long training sessions where participants have to sit down for a long time.