I hit a wall last year. Work was intense, my sleep was garbage, and I found myself snapping at people over nothing. One afternoon, I lost my temper because my phone charger was tangled. It was not about the charger. I knew it was not about the charger.

I needed quick, in-the-moment ways to reset that did not involve meditation apps or hour-long yoga sessions. I was not going to “find my zen” at 3 PM on a Tuesday with three deadlines looming. I needed something that worked in two minutes or less. Here is what actually helped.

1. The Physiological Sigh

This is the only one grounded in actual neuroscience and it is absurdly simple. Two quick inhales through your nose, one long exhale through your mouth. The double inhale forces your lungs’ alveoli to fully expand, and the long exhale activates your parasympathetic nervous system — the “rest and digest” mode. I do this three times in a row and my heart rate noticeably drops. I have done it in my car before a meeting, in a bathroom stall, at my desk. Nobody notices.

2. Cold Water on the Wrists

Run cold water over the inside of your wrists for 30 seconds. The major blood vessels run close to the skin there. Cooling them cools your blood slightly, which signals your body to calm down. It is not a cure for chronic anxiety. It is a physical reset button when you are spiraling. I have used this before difficult conversations and it genuinely helps me think more clearly.

3. Name Five Things You See

The 5-4-3-2-1 grounding exercise sounds like something from a wellness poster, but it works by forcing your brain out of its stress loop and into sensory input. Five things you see. Four things you feel (the chair under you, your shirt on your skin). Three things you hear. Two things you smell. One thing you taste. By the time I get to smell, I have usually forgotten what I was spiraling about.

4. The 90-Second Rule

A neuroscientist named Jill Bolte Taylor observed that the chemical lifespan of an emotion in the brain is about 90 seconds. After that, any lingering feeling is you choosing to stay in the emotional loop — replaying the story, justifying the anger, feeding the anxiety. When I feel overwhelmed, I tell myself: “Wait 90 seconds. Just ride it out.” Most of the time, the wave peaks and starts to recede before the 90 seconds are up.

5. Write It Down Ugly

I keep a cheap notebook — not a pretty journal, a spiral-bound thing I got for two dollars — and when I am overwhelmed, I write down exactly what I am thinking, no filter, no complete sentences. “Behind on project Tom will be mad why did I say yes to that presentation I should have slept more.” The act of externalizing it stops the loop. The thoughts look less scary on paper than they did circling in my head.

None of these fix the root cause of stress. But they buy you enough calm to make better decisions — and sometimes that is all you need to get through the afternoon.