How to work well under pressure?
This is a question that has probably crossed your mind at some point in your professional life. Being able to work well is not only about delivering what needs to be delivered, it is also about having a sense of prioritizing tasks, of knowing what is most important and most difficult to do. It’s also a matter of time management, good communication with the team and, going even further, self-knowledge, since all these things can only be done well if we know our own work pace.
And this is exactly where the greatest difficulty for most people comes in: performing all the tasks mentioned above in a time frame that is usually short. This creates a lot of pressure for the professional and, while some handle pressure very well, others do not handle it that well. And this is completely normal. Most of us will need to adapt to more tense environments to be able to work well.
And it is precisely thinking of these people that I decided to share some of the knowledge I acquired by reading about techniques to produce well in situations where we are under a lot of pressure. It is important to say that a situation like this can present itself in several ways: sometimes the fault is the short delivery time, sometimes the pressure comes from a superior, and sometimes (very often) the pressure is internal. Human beings tend to charge themselves to give their best, and this in itself is already a pressure that we carry in our subconscious, without us being aware of it daily.
Regardless of where the pressure is coming from, if you are having a hard time working well and are feeling pressured or strained, I hope these tips will help you. They are logically organized so that each topic is an extension of the previous one. You can exercise these practices in order, or not, it will depend on you, after all there are practices that can work very well for some people and not very well for others. Lets go to what matters!
- Think of work as a fun challenge: Everything in life depends on how we look at the situation we’re facing. If we look at something with a positive perspective, we have the power to change that experience completely. It’s no different when it comes to work. If you have a high demand and feel pressured about it, think of it as a challenge to do your best, not a threat to your job. Human beings tend to like the feeling of challenge, it’s what makes us like video games, for example;
- Think about the worst and best possible scenarios: Think about what the worst possible outcome might be in that scenario. From this you can plan alternative outcomes (the famous B plans). If you have a plan B in hand, you will feel more secure as you work. But, as said in the previous topic, it’s critical to keep a positive outlook, so think about the best possible scenario as well, and use that as a goal to give your best;
- Break and prioritize tasks: When defining possible scenarios for the future, it’s time to break your plan A down into smaller tasks and prioritize them. The order of execution will depend a lot on the context of your work, as there is no absolute prioritization rule. There is a method, called Eisenhower, which proposes to divide tasks into four lists: urgent and important; important but not urgent; urgent but not important; not urgent and not important. Always start with the greatest urgency, that way you’ll be more confident that what’s vital to getting the job done will be delivered first;
- Focus on the present: When defining tasks, it’s time to set the future aside. What you could do about it is already done. Now it’s time to focus on the present, as this tends to alleviate anxiety, which is one of the worst factors preventing us from working well. Another factor that helps a lot in reducing anxiety is sleeping well, so whenever you are facing more difficult times at work, invest a lot in a good sleep! Additionally, meditation is already proven to be an excellent technique for reducing anxiety and improving focus. If you still can’t meditate on your own, there are plenty of videos on the internet and mobile apps that can guide you through your meditation practices;
- Focus on the current task, not the outcome: When starting each task, focus only on its scope. Forget about any other task on your list and, above all, forget about the final delivery. Trust that you have a plan, and a plan B if everything goes wrong;
- Listen to music: It may sound like a joke, but it’s not! Many studies claim that music helps a lot in concentration and has the power to take our minds off problems. The type of music, however, remains a reason for disagreement among experts: while some indicate calmer music, others point out that each head will work in a different way, so faster minds can end up doing well with more agitated music. I believe the trick here is to test and find what fits each person’s profile. It’s an important but very personal tip;
- Review your performance: Finally, when you manage to complete your tasks (this can be done on a daily, weekly, or even final delivery of important work), take time to reflect on your performance and see what can be changed , what held you back, what caused you the most anxiety, and what part of the whole situation caused you the most feeling of “being pressured”. With that in hand, planning the next task cycle will be much easier and more intuitive.
These are just some tips on what can be done to improve the day-to-day at work when we are dealing with high pressure environments and situations, but there are still many other techniques that can help in this regard, and that can be seen in the links added in references.
Regardless of what techniques you choose to use to improve your work, it is a fact that seeking to learn how to work well under any circumstances makes us better professionals. It is attitudes like these that help us to leverage our career. It is essential that we know that there are always aspects that can be improved, and little by little we are sculpting ourselves for the best version of ourselves. Finally, I leave you with this sentence by Augusto Branco: “It is the enormous pressure to which it is subjected, which transforms what was once a simple and rejectable coal, into a coveted and valuable diamond”.
References:
