To Cope with Stress, Try Learning Something New

Digital Article

Chen Zhang, Christopher G. Myers, David M. Mayer
Harvard Business Review, 2018 Sep

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APA Click to copy
Zhang, C., Myers, C. G., & Mayer, D. M. (2018). To Cope with Stress, Try Learning Something New. Harvard Business Review.

Chicago/Turabian Click to copy
Zhang, Chen, Christopher G. Myers, and David M. Mayer. “To Cope with Stress, Try Learning Something New.” Harvard Business Review (September 2018).

MLA Click to copy
Zhang, Chen, et al. “To Cope with Stress, Try Learning Something New.” Harvard Business Review, Sept. 2018.

BibTeX Click to copy

@article{chen2018a,
  title = {To Cope with Stress, Try Learning Something New},
  year = {2018},
  month = sep,
  journal = {Harvard Business Review},
  author = {Zhang, Chen and Myers, Christopher G. and Mayer, David M.},
  month_numeric = {9}
}

There are typically two ways people try to deal with work stress. One is to simply “buckle down and power through”—to focus on getting the stressful work done. Professional workers often have a “bias for action” and want to find a solution quickly. The other common tactic is to retreat—to temporarily disconnect from work and get away from the stressful environment. Unfortunately, both of these approaches have pitfalls. Continuing to work while stressed and fatigue can tax us and lead to worse performance. And while a reprieve from work can offer temporary relief, it doesn’t address the underlying issues causing the stress in the first place.

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Headline article on HBR.org homepage

Reprints

Zhang, C., Myers, C.G., & Mayer, D.M. 2019. To cope with stress, try learning something new. Harvard Business Review Special Issue: How to Learn Faster and Better, 31-33.

Zhang, C., Myers, C.G., & Mayer, D.M. 2019. To cope with stress, try learning something new. The Latest Research: Managing Yourself. Boston: Harvard Business Review Publishing.