WAYS TO DEAL WITH WORK PRESSURE

Deadlines, project changes, office politics, unforeseen obstacles, critical atrocities are just a few stressful issues that arise in the corporate world on a very routine basis. Handling these situations, one often feels a great deal of pressure on work.

PRESSURE: The stress or urgency of matters demanding attention, the burden of physical or mental distress, the constraint of situations. 

Working under pressure is a very common phenomenon experienced by people in their daily lives. The way in which stress affects us can depend on how we choose to contemplate stress, use stress, and react to stress.  Stress may not always be “bad”.  There are situations when stress motivates us to change our behaviors and push us closer to our selected goals, and aspirations (referring to eustress).  If we did not feel stress, we would have not been induced to act in ways that bring about significant change.

Working under constant pressure can lead to excessive stress (distress) which can interfere with productivity and impact one’s physical and emotional health. So all we need to do is manage this excessive stress and try converting it into eustress and if not convert, then at least minimize the effect of distress as much as possible.

Let us discuss a few ways that will help any individual cope up with the pressure at work:

1.      PRIORITIZE WORK:  Practice time management by prioritizing tasks. Think strategically, who among the internal customers do you most need to satisfy, given that you can’t please everyone? Create a daily realistic 'To Do' list. From the list, set priorities by coding the 'To Dos' with 1,2 and 3 - '1' as your top priority. Handle each piece of paper that comes in contact with your hand only once, at least try.

2.      REVIEW & REFRAME YOUR ROLE:  The idea here is to analyze one’s role carefully and reframe it to one of empowering things to happen instead of as one that causes doing things. Delegation of work will not only reduce your work pressure but will also help others develop in their areas.

3.      PLAN AHEAD: Another strategy to avoid pressure, particularly on a project that has a tight deadline, is to break it into portions and complete it bit-by-bit. By doing this, you lessen the pressure that is put on. Reducing the amount of pressure that has been placed on you is one of the best techniques to cope up with tormenting situations. One can achieve this by simply being organized, and doing things in phases.

4.      STAYING FIT: Find some time for exercising, be it only a 20 minute walk around the block. Physical exercise gets the adrenaline flowing, keeps you fit and gives you valuable time when you can think about how you are going to complete the next task.

5.      SHARE A LAUGH: Transfer the tension and pressure into humor. Laugh out, share jokes, have a laugh with your friends or work colleagues.  This makes the work environment lighter and cheerful and it will help you rechanneling your vigor to getting the task at hand completed.

 Stress should be a powerful driving force, not an obstacle.  ~Bill Phillip

These easy pressure coping tips will not only help you keep organized but will also ensure  a maintenance of a work-life  balance.