Managing stress at work: what works daily, not just on holiday

Author: Ugnė Juodytė, psychologist, burnout prevention expert, author of the book “Perdegimo anatomija" (The Anatomy of Burnout). Published: 2026-08-02. Updated: 2026-08-02.

Short answer: stress management at work works when three things come together: recognising stress signals in the body and behaviour as early as possible, daily recovery in small doses (micro-breaks, breathing, movement, sleep), and a review of working conditions – priorities, boundaries and clarity about your role. Holidays and relaxation techniques alone cannot control stress if demands consistently exceed resources. Chronic, unmanaged stress turns into burnout, which is why daily stress management is the cheapest form of burnout prevention.

How is stress different from burnout?

Stress is a normal response to a demand: the body mobilises energy to cope with a task. Short-term stress can even help – it sharpens focus and pace. The problem starts when the tension never settles: the body stays mobilised for weeks and months without full recovery between episodes.

Burnout is the consequence of prolonged, unmanaged work stress. The World Health Organization (ICD-11) defines it as an occupational syndrome characterised by energy depletion, cynicism towards work and reduced professional efficacy. The difference is simple: a stressed person still has energy but spends too much of it; a burnt-out person has no energy left, even after resting.

How do you notice stress signals in time?

Signals almost always appear on three levels, and usually only the third – the latest – gets noticed.

Body. Tension in the shoulders and jaw, shallow breathing, headaches or stomach pain, trouble falling asleep or waking at 3–4 a.m., more frequent colds.

Behaviour. Longer working days, procrastination, difficulty starting work, more coffee or evening alcohol, screens until late, dropping sport and meeting friends – in other words, the first things dropped are exactly the things that restore you.

Thinking and emotions. Shorter patience, more irritability, harder to concentrate and decide, the thought “I am not coping" even though the work is objectively getting done.

A practical tool: once a day, at the same time, rate your tension from 1 to 10 and note one word for how you feel. Within two weeks you will see your personal stress map – which days, meetings and tasks raise tension most.

Which stress management techniques actually work?

The most effective ones are short, concrete and built into the working day rather than postponed until “there is time".

Longer exhale. Breathing so that the exhale is roughly twice as long as the inhale (for example, inhale for 4 seconds, exhale for 6–8) activates the parasympathetic nervous system. One or two minutes before a difficult meeting is enough.

Micro-breaks every 60–90 minutes. Five to ten minutes without a screen: stand up, breathe, look into the distance, walk. Several short breaks reduce the build-up of tension better than one long screen-free evening after a day with no breaks at all.

Movement as stress discharge. Stress hormones clear faster when you move. A brisk 20–30 minute walk during the day is more effective than a single intense workout at the weekend.

Protecting sleep. Sleep is the main recovery mechanism. A consistent bedtime, no screens for at least an hour before sleep and switching off work notifications in the evening deliver more than any relaxation technique.

An end-of-day ritual. Five minutes: write down what is done and what matters most tomorrow, close the laptop, physically change your environment. The brain needs a clear signal that the day is over.

Managing attention. One task at a time, notifications off during deep work blocks. Constant switching increases cognitive load and the subjective level of stress even when the workload has not changed.

When stress management is not enough: the question of conditions

To be honest and clear: no breathing technique offsets a situation where demands systematically exceed human capacity. The job demands–resources model (Bakker, Demerouti) shows that strain grows not only from a heavy workload but also from low autonomy, role ambiguity, unfairness and insufficient support.

So alongside personal techniques, review the conditions: which of the coming weeks' tasks can be postponed, delegated or dropped; where responsibilities are unclear; what boundaries are needed for messaging after hours. A conversation with your manager that states the situation in facts and offers concrete solutions often achieves more than a month of self-help.

If after several months of consistent effort the workload does not change while tension keeps rising, the question shifts: this is no longer about stress management skills but about whether the environment is compatible with your health.

What can a manager and an organisation do?

Stress management at work is a shared responsibility. In an organisation the most effective approach works on three levels: individual (skills, self-help), team (workload planning, meeting culture, clear priorities) and organisational (realistic deadlines, adequate staffing, respect for rest). Prevention built on individual training alone gives a short-lived effect – people learn techniques and return to the same conditions.

Simple but powerful manager behaviours: not replying in the evenings and at weekends, scheduling 50-minute rather than 60-minute meetings, stating clearly what the priority is, and regularly asking not “is everything fine?" but “what is stealing most of your energy right now?".

Frequently asked questions

How long before stress management techniques start working? Most people notice the effect of breathing and micro-breaks the same day, but a stable change in tension levels appears after 3–6 weeks of consistent practice, especially when sleep is addressed too.

Is stress always harmful? No. Short-term stress with a clear end and a chance to recover is normal and even useful. What harms is chronic, unrelenting stress without recovery periods.

Where do I start if I have no time at all? With two things: a consistent bedtime and one 10-minute screen-free break in the middle of the working day. That is the smallest effective change you can sustain.

How do I know whether it is already burnout? If rest no longer restores you, cynicism or indifference towards work is growing, and ordinary tasks demand disproportionate effort for longer than a month, it is worth assessing the likelihood of burnout and consulting a specialist.

Does workplace stress management training deliver results? It does when it is continuous and covers not only employee skills but also management practices and how work is organised. A one-off lecture informs but does not change conditions.

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About the author. Ugnė Juodytė is a psychologist, burnout prevention expert, author of the book “Perdegimo anatomija" (The Anatomy of Burnout). For over 20 years, she has worked individually with clients and organizations, conducting training and lectures on burnout, exhaustion, and stress management. She is a Gestalt psychotherapy practitioner and a member of the Lithuanian Psychological Association, the Lithuanian Trauma Association, and the Lithuanian Mindfulness-Based Psychology Association.