Most stress management courses will teach you the traditional ways of managing stress and gaining relaxation. Socialise, have a healthy diet, take time out, and so on - but some of these are easier said than done. Here are some very easy, yet slightly alternative ways to beat stress or at least break up the day so that you feel you can deal with it better.

Be quiet and still

Whereas telling someone to "relax" is all very well, how do you do it? By being quiet and being still - this is a good start. It's a meditative state, it's what we do when we want to sleep, so it makes perfect sense if you want to do it to relax and let the stress ebb away. How would you manage this in a work situation? Where could you go? Some people like to take a ten-minute time out in the bathroom although this doesn't always promise to be quiet! A better idea is a prayer room - if your building has one - as there is no obligation to pray, but there is to be quiet and still. Does your company have any landscaped areas, some grass you can lie on and drift away for five minutes? Go there. Do you have a first aid room where you could go and lie down for a more extended time if you're really stressed? Then do - stress is an illness in itself and any workplace nurse would understand.

Avoid the news

This sounds odd at first, but can the news wait until you go home? Research reveals that news - which is often bad - can stress us out, causing us to think of our own problems. Credit Crunch headline? You might start thinking about that late mortgage payment. Schools shutting down? You'll start worrying about picking your kids up from whatever activity they have in the evening. Good news is few and far between, so why not leave it out of your working life as much as you can? You'll be surprised how much news affects us.

Massage or treat at lunch

For many of us, a lunch break is the time to inhale a sandwich at our desk while doing the next job. No need - you are legally entitled to one and you should use it as a stress-battling time. If you work in an urban area you can count on there being a restaurant used to a busy lunch service and serving you quickly, or a spa that knowingly does a 20-min massage for the professional market, or even if it's just treating yourself to an ice cream or a walk around the block - or anything you enjoy - use the time to do something that eases stress rather than staying at your desk increasing it.

Have a cry or laugh or scream

Standard anti-stress advice is to smile, because it forces you to be a little more positive. Sometimes a good cry can be cathartic - if it's every day, then you might need further help, but nobody is abnormal for letting everything go in a big session. You'll usually feel better afterwards. Screaming or hitting a stress ball can also help (that's why they were invented!) though be conscious of where you do this in the workplace! Other than that - have a laugh, because it's infectious. Share your best joke with your colleague and ask for the same in return.

Although some of these ideas may feel unorthodox in normal stress management - they really work for some people. Why not give them a try?