How Exercise Can Reduce Stress, Improve Productivity, and Help Prevent Burnout

There are some days when you feel super productive. You are well ahead of your schedule, and your work-life balance is excellent. On other days, you need an extra push to get simple tasks done. Keeping up with your to-do list may seem impossible.

While it is normal to feel tired or lazy sometimes, it shouldn't affect the quality of your life and performance. If it does, you may be dealing with stress.

Stress is any change that exerts physical, emotional, or psychological strain on the body. In most cases, it affects performance and productivity. When left unchecked, stress can quickly degenerate into burnout, which is more dangerous and life-threatening. In this article, you’ll learn the role of exercise in stress relief and how it improves efficiency in work and life.

Feeling overwhelmed at work? Take our burnout assessment to see whether stress is taking a toll.

How Does Your Stress Level Affect Your Performance?

Over the years, researchers have found stress to be one of the major causes of low performance in workplaces. When life becomes too demanding, it takes a toll on your health and the quality of work you produce.

If you find yourself in a state of being unproductive, here are some signs that show that it may be stress-related.

Lack of Energy

Constant lack of energy is one of the signs that your reduced performance is stress-related. It often comes as physical tiredness or lack of mental zeal to attempt tasks. When the body is under stressful conditions, it releases adrenaline to help it cope. After a while, the brain becomes drained — and so is your ability to produce meaningful output.

Loss of Concentration

When your body is under stress, one of the signs you experience is the inability to concentrate. Stress reduces your alertness, disrupts your workflow, and makes you unproductive.

Creative Block

There are seasons of creative drought, but they often stem from stress. In this state, you may need help to create innovative ideas or offer meaningful contributions to projects.

Negative Attitude

Anger, self-pity, and other negative emotions are common during intense stress. They are also the effect of missing deadlines or low performance at work. Negative emotions like this can become a vicious cycle.

Reduced Effort

Another sign that your lack of productivity may be due to stress is when you give the bare minimum to your tasks. It could be due to exhaustion, poor time management, or improper work-life balance.

If you experience any of these signs, quality exercise can help relieve stress and give you a clear head to stay productive. 

How Does Exercise Provide Stress Relief?

According to the American Psychological Association, 62% of adults who say they exercise for stress relief have found the method very effective. Even small amounts of movement can help reduce stress. Here are some of the direct effects exercise has on improving stress levels.

Increases Endorphins Production

Exercise and movement produce endorphins. Endorphins are "feel-good" neurotransmitters produced by the brain after aerobic activities. They create a sense of happiness or contentment that boost your mood and performance.

Targets Stressed Muscles

The body enters into a fight or flight mode when under stress. The digestive, cardiovascular, and immune systems are usually affected in this state. A few minutes of exercise provides your body with extra reinforcement against the negative effect of stress. Eventually, you feel better, which rubs off on your work.

Improves Quality of Sleep

Your stress level and productivity are related to your sleep quality. According to a survey done by the American Psychological Association, 21% of adults report feeling stressed when they don’t get enough sleep. Additionally, 45% of adults who are already stressed admit to feeling more stressed out when they don’t get enough sleep. Engaging in exercise and stretching before bedtime can improve the quality of sleep you get. You also wake up feeling less stressed and more productive.

Improves Focus

Exercising is often referred to as meditation in motion. For example, when we run or engage in any other fitness exercise, our mind tends to forget the day's stress and focus only on the activity. After a while, you'd find that your mind is clearer, your muscles are calmer, and your mood is better. When your body is in this stress-free state, you'd also notice an improvement in your productivity.

Overall, quality exercise does wonders for the body. It is excellent for proper blood circulation, weight reduction, maintaining adequate blood pressure, and many more. All these indirectly affect your stress level and performance.

How Much Exercise Do You Need to Improve Productivity?

You would need up to 150 minutes of weekly workouts to stay alert and productive. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), you should carry out aerobic exercises for up to 30 minutes five days a week.

Here are some exercises you could incorporate into your stress management routine:

• Yoga
• Biking
• Jogging
• Swimming
• Pilates
• Tennis
• Rowing

You can also indulge in simple activities like gardening, dancing, or using the stairs instead of the elevator. Most importantly, choose activities you enjoy, as overly intense exercises can lead to anxiety. Moderate aerobic exercises like the ones listed above are the best kind of workout to help you relieve stress. High-intensity activities like circuit training can also help.

If your stress level is related to some health problem, check with your doctor before indulging in certain exercises. You’d want to confirm how safe such activity is and its overall impact on your health.

If you don't already have a workout routine, it can feel overwhelming to fit it into a busy schedule. You can break the 30-minute exercises into three 10-minute sessions and fit them into your day. You'd also want to start small and increase your workout time as you go.

Finally, you must make fitness a habit and lifestyle to get sustainable, long-lasting results.