11 Immediate & Easy Ways to Relieve Stress

Share or pin for later!

Looking for some easy and quick ways to relieve stress and anxiety naturally?

You’re not alone! Some people I know don’t seem to get stressed at all (my husband, the Professor), and I’m glad there are people like that in the world.

They annoy me sometimes, lol, but I try to use them as inspiration and realize that we definitely don’t want a world full of people like me- who overthink and stress eat about everything!

Stress and anxiety are unfortunately a big part of my life- but then what busy mom isn’t stressed out, right?

But all of us can take some comfort that we’re in this together and share our tips. Here are 11 immediate and easy activities for stress relief that will also fit in your busy schedule.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you click & buy or sign up for a service through my link, I will receive a small compensation at no additional cost to you.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. See my Disclosure page for details.

1. Listen to Music

Music is powerful! One research study said that listening to a particular song reduced the anxiety of listeners up to 65%!

If you’re stressed or anxious, play your favorite song (unless it’s something that will made you sad- don’t go there!), or a song that you love to sing along with. Something catchy that will pull you in and completely distract you. To help you relieve stress at work, wear headphones and listen (if possible).

If you have a playlist already set up on your favorite music streaming service, go straight to it! At work, I use Amazon Music and at home, I love having the Amazon Echo to play something whenever I want.

The Echo is also really useful in that you can just ask it to play different kinds of songs, like “catchy songs” or “happy songs” when you just want something to help lighten your mood.

If you don’t have a playlist already, make a playlist or multiple playlists of your favorite songs for certain times. In the article from above, there’s a list of the top 10 most relaxing songs that you could start out with. Just don’t listen while driving!

2. Laugh Your Stress Away

The other day I wasn’t having a great day for reasons, and discovered this compilation of animal Vines that made me laugh SO.HARD. It’s now my go-to stress relief video. Find some funny videos, or look at gifs, memes or pictures of baby animals- they will definitely change your mood! You could also try laughter yoga when no one else is around (trust me on this one).

3. Think About What You CAN Control

We tend to focus on what we can’t control, what we’d like to change. Try thinking about what things you CAN control, and the comfort that you get from those things.

Also remind yourself that you can always control your attitude towards something. When I have a hard time with this, I recall one of my grandpa’s favorite sayings: “Attitude is everything!”

4. Do a Brain Dump to Clear Your Mind

Physically write down everything that you’re thinking about, everything that’s stressing you out, and you should feel some relief just getting it all out. You might be able to get a different perspective seeing it on paper too.

5. Make a Plan for Stressful Situations

Decide what outcomes there might be for a stressful situation, and make a plan for those. What actionable steps can you take to improve the situation? When you have a plan to handle the outcomes, then you don’t have to worry or stress about them, just remind yourself to follow the plan.

6. Play a Game

Play some kind of game that totally absorbs your attention for a little bit. You probably have a game on your phone that’ll do the trick. If not, this article recommends Tetris to reduce stress, or anything else that will be challenging enough to keep your mind engaged for a bit.

7. Grab a Piece of Candy

Not only will you have something new to focus on besides your worries, studies have shown that eating a piece of dark chocolate, hard candy or chewing on gum may relieve stress and improve mood. Dark chocolate is also reported to improve your memory and immunity!

8. Drink Some Water

Most people don’t drink enough water, me included! According to this article, if your body is dehydrated, it’s under more stress and increases the production of the stress hormone cortisol. Of course when you’re stressing out, it’s easy to forget to eat and drink right, so it’s like doubling the stress on your body.

Related Post: 6 Super Easy Ways to Drink More Water!

Pretty much everything in our whole bodies need water to function. Studies have shown even mild dehydration affects thinking and mood, so have a glass or two when you feel the first signs of stress rearing its ugly head!

9. Stretch Stressed Muscles

Stress causes your muscles become tight, sometimes without you realizing it! Your shoulders are probably bunched together right now.

Tight muscles can cause a whole host of problems, including migraines, muscle spasms, muscle tears, and more. If you stretch at the first sign of stress, it’ll help those muscles not get too tight and instantly make you feel a bit better.

10. Read

Reading a good book, or interesting article can suck you into another world and take your mind off things.

Being stressed, I wouldn’t recommend reading the news, unless you’re game for some celebrity gossip news, but some interesting articles can be found on Pocket if you need to find something quickly. Free e-books can also be found in a lot of places online. Check out this article for recommendations.

If you enjoy fiction and haven’t tried reading fanfiction- fan writing based on movies, tv shows, books, etc., try out Fanfiction.net and Archive of Our Own. Just a warning- be sure to use filters when you search!

11. Look Outside & Breathe

Take a few deep breaths and look outside a window. Imagine blowing your stress out and letting your body relax. Try looking at every detail of nature that you notice.

It sounds strange, but reminding yourself that there’s a world outside of your own will help you to gain perspective and take your mind off of stressful things for the moment. That is until you hear your children calling your name 50 times again, lol!

Have a Little More Time?

Go for a walk.
Do a craft. I do enjoy coloring, but have found that Zentangles are a little more fun and relaxing for me. You don’t have to be artistic and it only takes about 15 minutes!
Buy/make some stress dough, clay, your child’s Play-Doh or cloud dough. Squeeze it like there’s no tomorrow.
Work on a puzzle, crossword, word find, or Sodoku.

You’ve got to determine what works best for you.

Depending on what’s going on, sometimes something that only keeps my hands busy lets my mind run rampant and stress more. If you need something that keeps your mind busy, then try something more mentally challenging.

Stress and anxiety can have horrible effects on your health. If you’re experiencing them frequently, please talk to someone about it– be it a friend, family member, or a professional.

Let me know if any of these work for you, and what you’ve found that helps you deal with stress and anxiety!

Do you have a self-care routine?

Take the 4 Week Self-Care Challenge!

Use this free printable 4 Week Self-Care Challenge Chart to help create your self-care routine.

Pick one self-care practice and do it for a week.
Each week add another, until you get to four a day. If you don’t know what to pick, start small and use the easy, quick ideas here.
After four weeks, take a look at the routine you’ve created and decide if you feel more balanced. Do you want to continue the same routine, mix it up a bit, or add more?

Enter your email address below and you’ll get it sent directly to your inbox!

By signing up, you’ll also be getting our updates & FREE PRINTABLES that I send out in our newsletters!