Have you ever opened your inbox and felt that wave of panic? I know I have.
Messages stack up, reminders pop in, and before you know it, the day feels hijacked. Honestly, my inbox is the biggest stress trigger at work. It’s like a firehose you can’t turn off.
Tim Ferriss, the author of The 4-Hour Workweek , once said, “Your inbox is everyone else’s agenda for your time,” and I couldn’t agree more. Stress shows up when everything demands attention at once.
The good news? It doesn’t have to run the show. Let me teach you how to set your priorities right and take back control to work through the chaos, one task at a time.
Why Work Stress Builds Up
Stress at work usually comes down to one thing: too much flying at you, not enough control over it. Emails keep rolling in, and Slack pings never stop. And how can I forget about meetings that keep popping up right when you’re trying to focus?
Everything feels urgent, even when it’s not. Hans Selye, often called the father of stress research, put it perfectly: “It’s not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it.”
Pilots have a term for this: being “behind the airplane.” It’s when the aircraft is moving faster than your ability to keep up. The same thing happens at work. When the pace outruns your capacity, stress skyrockets.
And it’s not just you or me. Gallup’s report shows that 53% of the employees worldwide are struggling. Stress is a big part of this problem for many.
Practical Strategies for Managing Stress
So if stress builds up when control slips away, what do you do? Well, you take some of it back.
You can’t erase deadlines or mute your boss, but you can change how you handle the flow. It’s like a pilot getting back ahead of the airplane. Here’s how.
Prioritize and Plan
Stress multiplies when everything looks equally urgent. That’s why you need to prioritize. Do ONE thing at a time.
A simple calendar can make a huge difference. I block out time for the most important tasks, almost like appointments I can’t miss. It keeps me focused and gives me a sense of control over my day.
Watch this video to learn how I use my calendar to prioritize.
Break Tasks Into Chunks
Big projects feel crushing when you stare at them as one giant mountain. The trick?
Break them into smaller climbs. Handle one piece, finish it, then move to the next. Progress builds momentum, and suddenly the mountain doesn’t look so impossible anymore.
A strategy I swear by is timeboxing. It’s when you allocate fixed blocks of time to specific tasks, so they don’t expand endlessly.
In project management, there’s another technique called work breakdown structure (WBS). Basically, you divide bigger goals into smaller deliverables and then work on them.
Set Boundaries With Your Inbox
Emails are sneaky stress traps. Remember Tim Ferriss’ saying I shared earlier. He’s SO right.
Microsoft found that the top 25% email users spend around 8.8 hours a week on email. That’s a full work day!
The fix is simple: don’t live in your inbox. Schedule set times to check it instead of letting it run your whole day. If you get an email notification after you’ve wrapped up work, ignore it. It’s tomorrow’s matter now.
Quick Stress-Relief Habits
Sometimes you don’t need a big plan to ease stress; you just need a reset button. Short breaks can do wonders. Even five minutes away from the screen helps.
Step outside, take a short walk, or just close your eyes and breathe. You’re basically hitting pause so your brain can catch up.
And as Jon Kabat-Zinn, the pioneer of mindfulness-based stress reduction, once said: “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.”
If you can’t go out, movement works the same way. Stretch at your desk or stand up to loosen up stiff legs. It sounds simple, but it shifts your focus and keeps tension from building up.
There’s actually a term for it now: ‘’deskercise.’’ Healthline has a whole routine that you can follow.
I’ve also found that small rituals make a big difference. For me, it’s coffee. Ten minutes in the afternoon with a cup of coffee and a favorite playlist helps me reset before diving back into work.
That little routine signals my brain: okay, time to recharge.
Long-Term Stress Management
Quick fixes are great, but they’re not all there is. You also need habits that keep stress from piling up in the first place.
It starts with the basics: move your body, eat food that fuels you, and get enough sleep. Sounds simple, yet those three things act like your daily armor against stress.
I can’t stress the importance of support systems enough. Having people you can turn to, like a trusted colleague or family member, creates a safety net. Just talking things through lightens the load. You don’t have to carry it all alone.
And let’s be real: workplaces play a huge role here. A culture that encourages breaks, respects boundaries, and talks openly about wellness creates healthier teams.
The opposite? Burnout.
HR Brew reports that 82% of white-collar workers have felt burnout or stress symptoms. That number should make every company pause.
Arianna Huffington, who built Thrive Global around this very issue, summed it up best: “Burnout is not the price you pay for success.” Stress will always exist, but it doesn’t have to define your work life. Build resilience, lean on your support systems, and push for environments where people can actually thrive.
De-Stress to Land the Day Smoothly
Stress is a part of the workplace, but it doesn’t have to control you. Small, consistent actions make all the difference. Use calendaring and color coding to block out time slots, manage the email overload with a specific email-checking time, and use both short-term and long-term stress relief strategies I’ve shared.
When you set the pace instead of reacting to everything around you, stress loses its grip. You win.
Gallup: ‘’Employee Wellbeing.’’ Accessed 10/05/2025.
Microsoft: ‘’Will AI Fix Work?’’ Accessed 10/05/2025.
Healthline: ‘’Stretches to Do at Work Every Day.’’ Accessed 10/05/2025.
HR Brew: ‘’Burnout was on the rise in 2024, but so was engagement. That could spell trouble for employers in 2025.’’ Accessed 10/05/2025.
Article by
Founder, Think Like a Pilot & GBM6
Bobby Dutton is a professional speaker, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He's also a licensed commercial pilot and flight instructor -- for fun. Thriving at the intersection of engineering and art, Dutton created GrooveBoston in 2004, built on the statement "Music is No Longer a Spectator Sport." His team (now called GBM6) is about making people happy, through legendary events. Bobby's pioneering work on event design has won him awards internationally, and he was voted one of the "Top 25 Young Event Pros to Watch" by Special Events Magazine. After 20+ years of navigating high-stress situations as a business owner and event producer, Bobby found calm in an unlikely place: in the sky. He now teaches these aviation-inspired decision-making tools to thousands through events, keynotes, and workshops.
