Coping at work

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by Dr John Tickell

Irritable with the boss today? Or a work colleague who is tough to manage? Or are you just finding it really difficult to keep up with the workload, which keeps piling up?

I have spoken with thousands of highly successful people who are able to cope with managing the pressures in their lives so that the stress responses are more positive than negative. Remember, pressure is applied on the outside and stress happens on the inside. At work there are some techniques to keep your emotions in check and allow yourself to think more clearly under pressure.

The Walk Around the Block: If you are feeling really pressured at work sometimes the best thing to do is to go for a quick walk outside and ‘around the block.’ Along the way take a few deep breaths and think of something you really enjoy doing.

On The Hour Deep Breathing: I trust that you are breathing the whole time - otherwise we have a bigger problem! When we are stressed, we breathe with the top half of our chest and when relaxed, we breath with the bottom half - it’s true. Every hour, sit back in your chair and take two or three deep breaths - breathe in deeply from the bottom of your lungs - take one breath (deep from your diaphragm - pretend you are an opera singer before your first note) and breath out slowly. Repeat 2 or 3 times - slowly.

Positive Visualisation: Attitude is the most important word in the English language. The most successful people have little or no self doubt (this doesn’t mean they don’t listen and learn from others, because they do) and they don’t let themselves be consumed by negative thoughts. Try to visualise your meeting with a client or a work colleague in a positive way and think about the ways you can turn around the dynamic from negative to positive.

Control the Controllables: There are a lot of things we cannot control, like the weather or your colleague’s mood. Write down a list of everything which is causing you to worry and then put them into lists of those you can control and those you can’t. If you can’t control them, let them go or at least pop them in little boxes on the side of your brain. If you can, develop an action plan. “Action speaks louder than words.”