HBR Guide to Managing Stress

Taking Charge of Stress

You can’t avoid stress, but you can learn to better manage it on the spot. Here are some basic strategies for the next time stress strikes.

Four Steps to Break Out of the Stress Cycle

Often the easiest way to break out of the negative stress cycle is to stop it before you go too far down the death spiral of corrosive worry. This four-step approach gives you a structure for dealing with stress as it occurs.

Step 1: Stop. As soon as you begin to feel stress coming on, say, “Stop!” to yourself. For example, your computer freezes just as you’re trying to finish a presentation, and you feel that rush of anxiety with failure messages flooding your mind: “The presentation will be lost; I’ll fail; I’ll look like a fool.” Block ...