We all have stress and pressure in our lives, both personal and work pressures. The last few months for me have been extra pressure with one of our key staff members away on leave and bringing some new members into our team, right when we are exceptionally busy. It’s always the way isn’t it?!
I have been trying to make sure that we don’t skip a beat in terms of our delivery to both candidates and clients and integrating our new members of the team into our business, mostly with success! It’s funny but the busier I am, the more productive I seem to be. I definitely work better under pressure!
There are a few handy tips that have helped me in dealing with the stress and making sure I complete everything I need to:
- Plan, plan, plan – post its, lists, highlighters – you name it – I have it!
- Everything is urgent but it’s important to prioritise – make a list of the top things that need to be done daily, regardless of what happens
- Highlight when each one is completed. It makes such a difference to your positive mental attitude and feeling of accomplishment
- Identify when it is going to be a busy time and be prepared as much as possible
- Focus on daily tasks and completing those, rather than worrying about what will happen next week, next month etc
- Try not to get overwhelmed by breaking each job down, in order of priority. This one is really hard and I’m still working on this.
- Work hard – things always won’t be as busy as they are now, so put in the extra effort. The rewards will certainly follow.
- Stop procrastinating! I have been meaning to write this blog for the last few weeks now and of course, I am writing it at the last minute!
- Change your outlook – think of pressure as being part of life and don’t let it become overwhelming.
- Review your previous behaviour and learn from that. Look back on situations and see how you could have done things differently and adopt that next time you are in a similar situation. We aren’t perfect but to really grow we must try and do this.
- Look after yourself – eat well, get lots of sleep and plenty of water!
- Breathe
- Have fun while doing it! We can’t escape pressure so we may as well push through it and have a smile and a laugh!