What flourishers do differently: Three habits for handling workplace stress

Most of us don’t get to choose whether work will be stressful. Deadlines pile up, expectations shift, and what passes as “normal” at work can change fast. What we do get to choose, at least sometimes, is how we respond in the moment – and whether our workplaces make healthy responses realistic.

The Workplace Wellbeing Report 2026 confirmed what many feel: 59 percent of employees are languishing at work – consistently struggling with motivation, engagement, and fulfillment – while only 41 percent are flourishing. 19 percent, meanwhile, are “languishing severely.”  The results, which are based on a nationally representative sample of 2,000 U.S. employees, replicate earlier findings from the Center for Professional Responsibility in Business and Society (CPRBS) at Gies College of Business. The results follow the same pattern, though the numbers worsened: flourishing slipped from 43 to 41 percent, and severe languishing rose from about 12 to 19 percent.

Flourishing employees aren’t immune to stress, and they’re not robots (yet). While organizational support and team dynamics play a massive role in wellbeing at work, new data reveals that when stress hits, flourishing employees navigate the grind differently. Flourishers rely on a consistent set of coping behaviors that help them process emotions at work – strategies that are learnable. Researchers call them the “3 Rs”: Reframe, Reach Out, and Reset. These same patterns also emerge in a forthcoming study from Gies Business that further explores wellbeing at work.

“Organizations set the conditions, and they're responsible for them,” said Oscar Ybarra (right), professor of business administration and academic director for the Center for Professional Responsibility in Business and Society at Gies Business. “But people still have some room to act inside those conditions, and the 3 Rs are one of the things they can do.”

Languishing doesn’t have to look or feel like depression, and it’s not quite burnout. Languishing is more like the in-between. It can mean feeling stuck, or unengaged. It can mean showing up every day to do your best work without a clear sense of where you’re headed. Context matters, too: workers in 2026 face unique pressures like a tight job market and artificial intelligence anxieties. These strategies alone won’t eliminate problems, but together they make a powerful model for handling workplace stressors before they compound – and for building the habits that make flourishing more likely.

Reframe (Change Perspective)

When something goes wrong at work, languishers are more likely to get stuck in the immediate moment. The first habit that distinguishes flourishers is the ability to reframe, or cognitively “change the channel” after a stressful event. Reframing lets us see problems in their broader context, allowing us the space to step back and actively reinterpret what’s happening. That helps flourishers find constructive angles that keep situations manageable.

In the survey, flourishers were substantially more likely to use cognitive reappraisal strategies. For example, flourishers are more likely to:

• Look for the “silver lining” in a challenging situation (63 percent of flourishers vs. 36 percent of languishers)[1]
• Take a step back and look at the bigger picture beyond work (61 percent vs. 43)
• Remind themselves that difficult times won’t last (58 percent vs. 38)

For a languishing employee, a setback or negative review might feel permanent and overwhelming. For the flourishing employee, that same setback could be framed as temporary, or specific – a puzzle to be solved rather than endured. That narrative shift interrupts the stress response before it spirals into burnout.

“It's not only optimism,” said Ybarra. “It's reminding yourself the situation is temporary and that work is one part of a larger life."

Reach Out (Seek Connection)

Work stress has a well-known side effect: it can make us isolate, hunkering down until we think the storm has passed. But this year’s report suggests this is exactly the wrong approach. Flourishing employees are much more likely to actively connect with others to process what’s happening, gain perspective, and find support.

Among flourishers, 69 percent reported regularly interacting with others when work gets hard, compared to only 52 percent of languishers. Flourishers were also more likely to:

• Discuss a work situation with others to gain perspective or advice (40 percent vs. 27)
• Turn to family or friends for comfort during difficult work periods (48 percent vs. 34)

Crucially, the researchers note that not all social coping is equally beneficial. The researchers caution that venting, though it feels like connection, doesn’t appear to help. Instead, the Reach Out behaviors that distinguish flourishers are all about perspective, comfort, and the reinforcement of support.

The finding also links back to CPRBS’ workplace wellbeing findings, which continue to show that flourishing is far more common in “empowered squads,” or teams with high autonomy and high support, than in neglected environments. In empowered squads, 66 percent of workers flourish. In “muted squads,” teams with support but low autonomy, that figure drops to 44 percent. In neglected environments, only about one in ten employees (9 percent) flourish. People are more likely to seek support when they trust that their team and supervisory structure will back them up.

“The point of reaching out isn't to vent,” said Ybarra. “It's perspective, and some comfort –  and the comfort that mattered most came from family and friends, not just coworkers.”

Reset (Take Active Breaks)

Flourishers are more likely to interrupt stress with active breaks: movement, time outside, and practices that help them reset attention and emotion. Languishing employees often report “running on automatic,” or having difficulty focusing. Flourishers, rather, use physical activity and a change of environment to reset their mental state. Compared with languishers, flourishers were more likely to report:

• Going outside when possible to reset or recharge during the workday (45 percent vs. 33)
• Using exercise or other physical activity to manage work stress (40 percent vs. 31)
• Utilizing mindfulness or meditation practices to manage job stress (29 percent vs. 14)

This “reset” is physiological and psychological. Stepping outside, moving the body, or engaging in restorative practices reduces the stress that accumulates during sedentary, high-stress work. Steps as simple as taking a brief walk or making space for a deliberate transition between meetings can prevent stressors from becoming background noise. Resets are one tool among several, and the more strategies an employee has in their tool kit, the more options they have when stress strikes.

"These are small, everyday moves. None of them fixes the problem alone, but they help keep stress from compounding,” said Ybarra.

Skills, Not Inherent Traits

The most encouraging finding from the 2026 Workplace Wellbeing Report is that the authors argue these strategies are likely learnable rather than fixed personality traits – something organizations can support and encourage. No employee starts their first job knowing how to cognitively reframe a crisis or form social supports at work, but the “3 Rs” can be practiced by individuals and, critically, they can be supported.

There are, of course, limits to what a personal toolkit can do. In a workplace that’s overwhelming, no amount of personal strategy can remedy a bad situation. To the extent possible, the burden falls on the organization.  When workplaces design for flourishing and build empowered squads that pair autonomy with support, the 3 Rs can become useful.  By learning to Reframe, Reach Out, and Reset, leaders and employees together can begin to move the needle from languishing to flourishing.