When things are complicated, simplify

What do you do when you are overwhelmed with stress and pressure and immediacy?  It’s a question that I try and evaluate occasionally to see how my opinions change.

These external forces can come at you from many different avenues.  Work, family, kids… all the usual suspects.  Everyone needs something from you now so how do you deal with it?

Prioritize
You can’t possibly do everything for everyone all the time, it doesn’t work and if you think you can do it you are truly more optimistic then I am!  I used to think that saying yes to everyone regardless of the outcome would make them happy, and it always did… in the short term.  When faced with a stressful situation I tend to break up stuff I have to do into mini lists.  A list with the 3 most important things I have to do next on it.  This list becomes my guiding light until those 3 tasks (and hopefully the stress and pressure) are gone.

Stop, think and then react
Often times when you are faced with a screaming client, boss or 2 year old your immediate reaction is to do something immediately, and to be honest that is probably what the person on the other end is expecting from you as well.  Over the years my ability to react has gotten slower (age maybe?) I don’t always make the best off the cuff decisions.  Over the last 6 months at my job we have instituted a Stop, Think, React culture.  It’s amazing how much of a difference these 3 simple steps can make in a pressure situation, understanding and information are the key’s to good decision making so why deny yourself the opportunity to explore those options when you need them the most?

These are just some of my thoughts on handling pressure and stress, what other kinds of things do you do to make sure you can handle those high pressure situations?