In a recent survey conducted with over 1 lakh respondents, Delhi-based online health platform Lybrate, that connects patients with doctors across the country, found that over 60% of working professionals in Tier 1 cities are dealing with stress. The survey states that about 31% of the working population is stressed in Mumbai, followed by 27% in Delhi and 14% in Bengaluru.
Stress can have serious health consequences in the long run, and the idea is to deal with it before it reaches a point where you need medical help. Here are some everyday, real-person-tested solutions. Ever since she took up working again, after a long break, Sonali Mehta, 40, from Delhi, has not been on social media. “I simply didn’t have the time and didn’t want to cram this into an already busy workday,” she says. That was three years ago, and she says she doesn’t miss it. “I realized I was spending unnecessary time on it, and it was not helping me in any way. If 15 less people I barely know don’t find a birthday wish from me on their wall, I’m sure they won’t miss it!”
Even though his daily work and workplace conflicts revolve around plants, Karan Singh Parmar, 35, Delhi, goes back to the green when he needs to let off some steam. “I had originally taken up gardening to get away from my phone screen and television,” says the florist, who spends at least a couple of hours on a workday — as well as half his weekends — tending to his terrace garden, planting new seeds, watching out for pests, putting in manure, pruning and re-potting. “It’s a beautiful experience, watching something grow, seeing the germination of flowers and fruit,” he explains.Josephine Fernandes, 58, from Delhi, has been teaching for decades, and can’t remember the last time she missed her evening walk along her tree-lined lane. “I walk for about 25 minutes, just round the corner,” she says. “It’s about keeping fit, so I can keep going. It makes me feel charged up and positive.”
