Work: performing under pressure and tension

How do you stay calm at decisive moments at work, when the pressure is high? How do you perform under pressure at work? Can you handle the stress, tension and pressure well? What ways can we combat fear? What skills do you need to train to improve your ability to perform under pressure? Do you suffer from stage fright? How do you improve capabilities?

Deadline

How do you deal with the tension you feel at important and decisive moments at work, such as:

  • The deadline for a large project is coming to an end: the pressure is increasing enormously, because the project must be completed and preferably error-free,
  • Or, you have to address the entire board of directors at work,
  • You have reached the top during a decisive selection procedure.

 

Characteristic tension

What are the characteristics when the tension and pressure is too high?

  • Sweaty hands,
  • To sweat,
  • Nervous,
  • Nervous,
  • Fear.

 

To fight

How can we combat this fear? How can we deal with this fear so that we continue to perform well at work?
We can combat fear in different ways, such as:

  • Be aware of your breathing: take a deep breath through your nose, let your lungs fill completely with air and let the air out slowly through your mouth, repeat this several times,
  • Focus on the goals: which goal must be achieved?
  • Focus on those things you can control,
  • Focus on those things you can improve,
  • Visualize yourself speaking calmly and quietly during a conversation or presentation,
  • Think about what you are good at
  • Repeat the words to yourself forcefully several times: “Calm!” and “Focus!”

 

Skills

Training your skills to better cope with high pressure at work is better than believing that you are a born leader and don’t need to train anything. Anyone who believes that you can train skills to better deal with tension at work is able to:

  • Deal better with setbacks at work
  • More practice to prepare for the important day,
  • Learn more to perform better,
  • Better manage your nerves.

 

To perform

What is the basis of being able to perform well under tension and pressure at work? Train!

  • Training by practicing.
  • Training by repetition.
  • Training by visualizing.
  • Training by learning.

Without the right skills and abilities, performing under pressure at work is quite a challenge. Just look at the art of top athletes: they train and train before they are able to deliver top performance under pressure.

Capacities

How do you improve the skills? How do you improve capabilities?

  • Practice on the parts that you experience as difficult or heavy,
  • Train those parts you are not good enough at,
  • Change the negative way you speak to yourself
  • Learn more about those parts that you do not master sufficiently.

 

Stress

Can someone be completely stress-free when push comes to shove at work? Healthy nerves are okay, the stress you feel makes you perform better. Being virtually stress-free is only possible if you have prepared well!

Stage fright

Stage fright can also occur at work. Thinking errors are often the cause of stage fright. How can you prevent stage fright? By never thinking the following at important and decisive moments at work:

  • Focusing solely on the outcome of the performance, project or job interview,
  • Then focus on the end result,
  • Focusing on everything that could go wrong
  • Focus on what could be your biggest mistake during the presentation, project or job interview.

The thoughts above are negative thoughts. Negative attracts negative. To perform well, focus only on the task: in the here and now! Do the breathing exercise, repeat the words to yourself forcefully: Calm and Focus, and relax.

To move

Exercise is an excellent way to calm your racing thoughts. Do you feel great tension to perform? Do you have that important performance or job interview coming up? Do you see an opportunity to move? Do you have time to take a walk outside in the fresh air? Take advantage of the great benefits of exercise before you have to perform under pressure at work!

Take care of yourself

Great tension, enormous pressure and stress at work takes a lot out of you. It is important to continue to perform well at work under pressure that you take good care of yourself! Go to bed on time, exercise regularly, eat and drink healthy. Avoid white sugar as much as possible during times of high stress at work. Take regular breaks at work: try to move during these breaks if you do sedentary work.

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