Do you work in a competitive organization and you are constantly on edge? If YES, here are 20 tips on how to stay calm and confident at work even under pressure.
Working under pressure can lead to stress and reduce productivity. That is why you need to devise a means to deal with the pressure that comes with work. A lot of people have various ways of dealing with work pressure, but what works for one person may not work for another person.
This post will outline various tips that would help you deal with work pressure. The mode you incorporate will depend on your personality. You may have to incorporate more than one mode to deal with pressure especially if you are under a lot of stress at work.
20 Tips on How to Be Calm and Confident at Work Even Under Pressure
1. Identify Stress Activators
First, you need to identify factors or events that trigger pressure at work. You can only deal with a problem effectively if you can identify the problem. The work pressure may be caused by unrealistic deadlines or goals. It may be caused by excess workload on you. Get a pen and jotter and pen down your daily work activities at the end of the workday. This way, you can easily identify and keep track of stress activators.
2. Learn to Deal With The Activators
After you have identified those factors, the next step is to learn to deal with them. How? You can start making minor changes that will reduce the pressure on you at work. For instance, if the pressure is caused by unrealistic deadlines at work, you can speak to your direct supervisor for a modification of the deadline to give you a more realistic deadline.
3. Plan Your Day
When you stumble into your day, you are most likely going to be stressed out. Chances are that you know your activities for the day even before the day starts. Thus, you need to take out time every morning, preferably before you get to the office to plan out your day. Make a schedule of the activities to be done for the day and set a time limit for each of the activities.
4. Start Your Day Early: You will notice that you are less stressed out when you start your day early. Make a personal decision to get to work at least 15 minutes before the time. Take the extra time to recollect your thoughts, stay focused and start early.
5. Always Maintain A Positive Attitude: Your attitude towards every aspect of your life matters a lot. If you maintain a negative attitude towards your job, you are bound to attract negative attitudes that will stress you out.
6. Learn to Let Go: Also, you need to learn to let go of some of the negative events that cause stress at work. For instance, when you deal with an angry customer and he says hurtful words to you, learn to let go of the harsh words and deal with the customer’s needs.
7. Stay Clear Of Caffeine: You need to reduce or totally cut off your intake of caffeine. Caffeine triggers the cortisol hormone, which is the stress causing hormone.
8. Laugh it Out: Laughing is a well-known stress-relief medicine. Learn to laugh at your mistakes.
9. Be Wary Of Critics: Always be mindful of those you listen to their criticisms. Some people may criticize your work out of jealousy or to get back at you. You are bound to hear criticisms from your colleagues at work or from your boss. Learn to discard unnecessary criticisms from people who do so for wrong reasons.
10. Listen To Music: Music has a relaxing effect on the body and mind. It also decreases the level of stress hormones in the body. You can use music to deal with work pressure. Create a playlist of classical music or your favorite songs, play it in the background while you work.
11. Get Enough Sleep: The quality of your sleep affects your productivity. You will notice a decrease in your level of productivity if you don’t get enough rest. Thus, you should ensure that you get at least 7 hours of quality sleep every night. This will help increase your ability to work effectively and reduce pressure.
12. Exercise Helps: One way to deal with pressure at work is to take out time in between work to engage in physical movements. Also, you release the feel-good hormones when you engage in physical activities. Take out time in between your work to take a brisk walk around the neighborhood
13. Try Affirmations: Affirmation builds your self-confidence and helps you cope with stress. When you find yourself engrossed in work pressure, take a few minutes to mutter positive self-talks to your hearing.
14. Ask For Help: Instead of bottling up your issues and bearing the pressure in silence, you can always ask for help from your colleagues, coach, boss or mentor.
15. Focus on Solution: Rather than channeling your focus on all the troubles and issues at work, be solution oriented. Think of a way to reduce your stress at work. Think of ways to simplify your work and get more done.
16. Take Breaks In-between: As you are creating a to-do list for the day, include break periods in between tasks.
17. Work Free Weekends: Always ensure that you spend your weekends doing non-work related activities. Spend your weekend with family, friends and loved ones. This way, you will start your new week refreshed and motivated.
18. Avoid Procrastination: Most times, the pressure at work occurs as a result of piling up works and responsibilities which should have been done earlier. Learn to avoid procrastination. Your work mantra should be ‘never leave for tomorrow something which you can do today’.
19. Learn To Delegate: Learn to outsource some of your work responsibility to others. You reduce your productivity and place yourself under unnecessary stress when you try to do every aspect of your work alone. Learn to get others involved.
20. Take Deep Breaths: When the pressure at work is so much on you, take out time alone to take deep breaths. Imagine the stress leaving your body with each breathe you take. This simple exercise will calm down your nerves and help you stay focused.