You could plot your year like a bell curve. Stress levels are low at the start of the year, then ramp up to crazy-high around mid-year before easing off into the year-end relaxation of Dezemba. You could also flip that chart upside down, bookending your year with good vibes and placing the mid-year slump smack in the middle. You could do both of those things… but that would feel a lot like work. And right now, you have enough work stress to deal with. 

Here, then, are a handful of practical, functional ways to manage stress at work, beat the mid-year slump, and make Winter feel a lot more like Summer.  

1. Assess and Set Goals 

Motivation doesn’t appear out of nowhere… especially not on a dark July morning. It comes from starting. So sit down, assess your goals for the year, and check in on the promises you made yourself back in early January. See what you can still achieve before the end of the year, and find ways of shaking yourself out of the rut you’re in. It could be something big, like starting a half-year course of study. Or it could be something small – but significant – like logging into meetings two minutes early. 

2. Set Boundaries 

As good as it is to decide what you will do, it’s also important to practice self-care by reinforcing what you won’t do. Where possible, try to reduce or eliminate the unnecessary things that are adding to your stress. This will clear up time to do productive tasks and will make you feel like you’re actually getting things done. 

3. Get A Plant 

Yup, it’s as easy as that. A 2020 study by the University of Hyogo in Japan, with the catchy title “Potential of a Small Indoor Plant on the Desk for Reducing Office Workers’ Stress”, found just the sight of an indoor plant can reduce stress in the workplace. Pop a low-maintenance cactus on your desk to beat the mid-year slump. 

4. No, Seriously. Get A Plant 

Yup, it’s as easy as that. 

5. Play A Video Game 

OK, so we’re not recommending you clear your calendar for a Call of Duty marathon. What we’re saying is, take a five-minute break. A study published in 2017 by the US Human Factors and Ergonomics Society found that playing casual video games during short rest breaks can help restore your mood in response to workplace stress. Casual gaming – which could be anything from Monopoly Go to the New York Times’s Connections – proved to be a better cure for office stress than guided relaxation.   

6. Move 

Loads of studies prove that moving is a quick and easy remedy for stress. In a 2021 study, Japan’s University of Tsukuba took it a step further, finding that your “sense of coherence” – also known as your SOC, or your ability to understand stress, deal with it, and find meaning in life – improves if you take a walk at least once a week in a green space. So pull up your SOCs by slipping out for a lunchtime stroll in a (safe) local garden or forest, and watch as your mental health improves! 

Besides getting a plant, there's an app for everything else you need to beat the mid-year slump. From activity and break apps that remind you to take time out and move, to games like Candy Crush and Scrabble GO. There are also various task management apps available, and if you need help looking after your plant, there's Planta, an app that scans your plant and gives you advice for caring for it. On another note, if you need a new phone to get those apps? Visit the Vodacom shop to find a device that suits you.