Tips for Coping under Pressure

Coping under Pressure

We have all experienced pressure situations, both personally and sometimes professionally. Giving a presentation, playing in a sports match, going on a first date could be situations where you might feel anxious in the lead up to or during. How we tend to cope under pressure in those situations can vary from slight to chronic and how we deal with them will differ from one person to another.

The stress mind-set

It didn’t take me long to figure out that I have more of a “negative stress mindset” especially when it comes to public presentations – the preparations and lead up is almost as bad as “delivery day”

Positive stress mind-set

Those that recognize stressful situations as challenges and a positive way to sharpen your focus and get extremely motivated are said to have a “positive stress mindset”

Negative stress mind-set

Those that view stressful situations as something to be avoided, for example giving a public speech is likely to be seen as unpleasant, and overwhelming are said to have a more “negative stress mindset” – the good news is you can turn it around!

Tips for Coping under Pressure

Watch a Horror movie – what?????

Hmmm…ok…really? Studies have shown that if you experience something stressful (i.e. a horror movie or scary clip) before your stressful thing…e.g. giving a speech, you are more likely to be calmer – a kind of recalibration of emotions. That one I will defiantly try out!

Identify your triggers

A great way of identifying the root of your stress is to keep a journal. Setup your daily log with sections like “event”, “emotions”, “reactions”, and “strategies”.

Organize your time

Often poor time management can lead to intense stress so by keeping a time journal will help remove time pressures. After each event take a look at any areas that you could have allocated time better.

Break it down

Often the simple act of keeping a to-do list can help. By breaking your goal into bite sized tasks.

Delegate

Where possible delegate, taking on too much can be overwhelming

Be forgiving and loving

Accept that no one is perfect. Forgive yourself when you make mistakes or things don’t go exactly to plan.

Lay off the coffee

The last thing you want is to be even more hyped up or stressed so if at all possible cut down on how much coffee of tea you are drinking towards your deadline.

Get a little exercise

We all know that exercise is a great stress reliever, the problem is when we are feeling stress or under pressure the last thing we want to do is “exercise”. It doesn’t mean you have to go to the gym or bike up a mountain though. Do whatever you can, maybe dancing around the house to your favorite tunes, taking the dog for a walk, doing a little of gardening, or even sharing some afternoon delight 😉

We all deal with stress slightly differently; we often experience differing intensities of pressure even when faced with similar situations. A speech, sports match, date, or even dropping of the kids at school. We all try to cope with pressure the best way we know how – keep seeking ways to your lower stress