4 Invisible Stressors Around You and How to Fix Them

Dark, high-wall cubicle, poor airflow, loud mechanical noise vs airy, light open office/active office spaces

Source: Esther Sternberg M.D.

Your environment contains many invisible stressors. How do we know this? We used wearable health tracking devices to measure people’s stress responses in different workspaces and found some surprises.

The people who worked in airy spaces, flooded with sunlight, beautiful views, lots of fresh air, and low mechanical noise were less stressed than people in the same building in the same retrofitted spaces that had previously been dark, musty, cramped with 6-foot-high wall cubicles, and loud mechanical noise. And that higher stress level carried on through the night, even when they were sleeping. When we asked the workers whether they had felt more stressed in the old spaces, they were not aware of how stressed they had been! In a subsequent study, we analyzed the elements of the environment that were stressful.

What were the stressors in those cramped, dark cubicles? Cubicle farms have an important invisible stressor: there’s no place to move. We found that people who worked in open office/active office designed spaces, with lots of choices for places to sit, work, walk, gather, moved 22% more than those in cubicles and 30% more than those in private offices. The people who moved more during the day were 14% less stressed when they went home. Once again, they weren’t aware of it. And the people who moved more during the day and were less stressed in the evening slept better and woke up less fatigued and in a better mood the next day!

Fourteen percent may not seem like a lot of stress, but added up, day by day, the cumulative stress puts a medically relevant load on your body: levels associated with stress-related illnesses like high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke.

The cubicles, too, provide a false sense of privacy. There’s visual privacy, but no auditory privacy. Think about when you might have worked in a cubicle – could you hear your colleagues’ voices on the other side of the wall?

Birdsong is in the range of 45 decibels - the sweet spot for physiological wellbeing.

Source: Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock

Most people know that very loud noises are not only stressful but can damage your hearing. Surprisingly, we also found that when it was too quiet, the stress response was higher as well – and once again, people weren’t aware of it!

The wearables showed that 45 decibels – around the level of birdsong – is the sweet spot for minimizing the stress response and maximizing the “wellbeing response”.

Then there’s temperature and humidity. It wasn’t the heat or cold that affected the stress response, it was the humidity. So, the adage, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity,” turns out to be true. When the relative humidity was less than 30% or greater than 60%, workers’ stress responses were 25% higher – and once again, they weren’t aware of it. If 14% more stress every day is a bad thing, then 25% more stress every day is even worse.

Person squinting and holding hand in front of face to protect from glare.

Source: cgn089/Shutterstock

How about light? We know that exposure to bright full-spectrum sunlight from 8 am to 12 pm helps you sleep at night – you fall asleep faster, have better sleep quality and wake up the next morning feeling refreshed rather than fatigued. But too much of a good thing is not good either.

Glare is a huge stressor. It can even trigger migraine headaches in those prone to them. People typically pull down the shades when there’s too much glare, and that compounds the problem, because you don’t get that dose of healthy morning sunlight you need for restful sleep.

So, now that you know the invisible stressors in your workspace, look around and see if they could be affecting you, whether you work in an office building or at home.

Place your desk by a window for optimal light.

Source: S_Photo/Shutterstock

Is it too dark where you work, or too bright with too much glare? Is it too noisy or too quiet? Is it too dry or too wet? Are there places to move about during the day? Once you’ve identified the stressors in your work environment, then you can easily fix them.

If it’s too dark, make sure you place your desk near a window with plenty of sunlight but not too much glare. That’s why artists for centuries preferred northern-facing windows with diffuse light and no glare. If you don’t have the luxury of a window, you can purchase full-spectrum light boxes or smart lamps to give you the right wavelength of light throughout the day – bluer in the morning and redder in the evening, to help you sleep better at night.

If it’s too noisy, try noise-cancelling headphones, or white or pink noise, nature sounds or your preferred music.

Desk humidifier to reduce dryness.

Source: Kmpzzz/Shutterstock

If it’s too wet, put a dehumidifier next to your workspace and if it’s too dry, put a humidifier there.

Climb stairs to increase movement and reduce stress.

Source: Melissa Garlej/Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine

If you don’t have many choices of places to move during the day, set your alarm to remind you to get up and move every 20 minutes or so. This is especially important if you work from home. People who work from home tend to move less than people who go to an office to work. Take advantage of being at home – climb the stairs, if you have them, a few times during the day. Or if you don’t have stairs, take a walk outside or to a local park to give yourself a break. That has the added benefit of being in nature, which is also a great way to reduce stress.

To reduce daily stress load, identify your invisible stressors and fix them, so they don’t add to stressors you can’t control!