“7 THINGS – I’ve learned about working under pressure!”

This week's "7 THINGS"

“7 THINGS – I’ve learned about working under pressure”

In this fast-paced world where we want our likes to be instant, our food to go, our TV series to be available immediately for binge watching, our weight loss to be quick, our love to bloom at first sight and our supper to be “farm to plate” fresh – is it any wonder we often feel under immense pressure to work well, work fast, and work better than the next person? It’s not enough to do a good job anymore, we also need to be seen to be putting in more hours than anyone else, achieving more, selling more, providing more value, and doing so with a smile and a winning attitude that sets you apart from the rest! Sweet Lord above is it any wonder we are all so exhausted? Fatigued by the pressure that society and ourselves heap onto our often over-burdened shoulders?

I have learned that are things you can do to cope with working under that kind of pressure.

Here are my “7 THINGS” this week.

1.     Prioritise. When I have a long list of deliverables or tasks it helps to number them or assign them a position either in terms of timescale or importance. Turns out that very often the million things that are rattling around in my head or which cause me to wake at three in the morning in fear that I have forgotten something, don’t all carry the same level of importance or urgency! Who knew? By prioritising tasks, ranking my deliverables, I often find my workload isn’t quite as horrendous as I feared and it’s my lack of order that makes them seem like an unconquerable mountain.

2.     Manage Expectations. No matter whether you work for someone else, yourself or your customers, always be realistic about what you can deliver and what they can expect. If you over promise and under deliver not only does this disappoint, but it can make you feel like you are failing, even when you are working flat out and doing a great job! By setting expectations and practising clear and open communication, it mitigates surprises or missed deadlines, and this is so much better for your mental health. I used to be desperately keen to smash a deadline – to what end I’m not quite sure! But if, despite working to the best of my ability, I missed it – I felt flooded with disappointment, when the actual deadline was a perfectly satisfactorily delivery date for all concerned and which I could have made easily! I set myself up to fail, so now I set realistic, achievable timescales and get buy in from all stakeholders.

3.     Do the thing you DON’T want to do first.  For many years I did the opposite of this. I’d cherry pick the sweet wins and crack on! Leaving the tasks or chores I dreaded to lurk in my mind like a background hum of darkness… meaning that no matter what I achieved or how much I got done, the things I didn’t want to do were still there. They jabbed me in the ribs and pawed at my sleep, bookending every thought with a sombre mood because I knew these tasks waited for me… by doing them first, often when my energy is highest, I not only don’t have to worry about them, but then have the ‘reward’ of the good/enjoyable things waiting for me. Win win!

4.     Set Targets. I used to work blindly for hours and hours until exhaustion or something more pressing pulled me from work. It was an unhealthy, never-ending cycle of toil! I now decide what is achievable and set targets. Working within a structure is not only better for my mental health but it is a great way of monitoring just how much I have achieved. The quality of my output is better too!

5.     Be your own gatekeeper. NO ONE will monitor your work/understand the demands on your time/suffer or win due to your workload more than YOU! You need to be able to say no. You need to be able to honestly discuss what you have achieved, what you are expected to achieve and how it’s going. Set parameters for regular feedback or self-auditing and be your own spokesperson.  

6.     Ask for help/delegate. It takes a village… Many hands make light work… A problem shared… There’s no I in TEAM! You can probably name other sayings and proverbs that all suggest things are made easier, and your burden lightened if you ask for help. And yet I for one was always so bad at doing just that. I thought to ask for help was in some way a failure! As if it meant I wasn’t coping, or lacked ability if I didn’t get my head down and keep going… This is lunacy. We all need help. Whether its practical help, advice, support, problem solving, a sounding board or simply reassurance – don’t be afraid to ask for it.

7.     Take a break/take a breath. All work and no play really does make Jack a dull boy. It also made Amanda slightly crazy and can quite literally drive you into the arms of illness. You are not a machine. You are a person, an animal with the need to rest, recharge and recover! I find many of my thought problems or feelings of being overwhelmed, are lessened when I take a minute away from the problem… I go walking or have a cup of tea. I call a friend, listen to music, have a bath, anything that takes me away from the screen and that pressure. There is more to life than any job or task. Sticking your head out into the sunshine or the fresh air does wonders to aid clarity.

Thank you for reading my “7 THINGS” this week. Has it resonated with you in any way?

*To learn more about Amanda or to buy her books head to www.amandaprowse.com