How To Stay Calm And Relaxed During Critical Times At Work?

After spending several years in a corporate environment, I have understood that feeling anxious, overwhelmed, or stressed during critical times is inevitable.

As much as being available during the highs of an organization, standing strong during demanding and stressful situations is a must-know skill.

Your experience as an employee or a leader is highly impacted by the attitude you carry towards your team.

Because when you’re calm, you tend to make logical decisions that are crucial for your role.

When you portray a calm demeanor, there is more of a chance that you also stay positive, which affects your relationships with those you work with for the better.

So I am sharing 8 tips which have helped me build a more cohesive workspace and stay cool during panic situations-

1. Take Deep Breaths-

When your day is getting to be a little more overwhelming and you encounter a stressful situation, which requires you to hurry, stop whatever you’re doing, and for 2 minutes and take deep breaths to reset your functioning. Stress affects your judgment and makes it difficult to complete important projects. So take deep breaths until you feel calm and then approach the situation again.

2. Be Confident-

If you're feeling anxious, it could be a lack of confidence. First things first feel confident in your abilities, your judgment, decisions, skills, and most importantly, in your team. If you approach your work with confidence, you will be able to navigate complex tasks or projects and work effectively. Confidence allows you to communicate effectively with coworkers, which trickles down to a steady productivity level that helps you feel in control.

3. Have a Positive Attitude-

A positive attitude can make all the difference in how you approach your work. With a positive approach, you may feel less stressed and more in charge of your day. You will be more invested in your work and able to think straight to find solutions to problems. Not only is it important to have a positive attitude, but it's crucial to surround yourself with others who do the same.

4. Take Breaks-

You may feel stressed because of responsibilities and might have a hard time thinking. Removing yourself from the situation for a brief period of time can help you relax and approach the rest of your workday or a particular situation from a new perspective. If you know that you're prone to stress at work, try to understand what circumstances create these feelings so you can anticipate them and take the steps to keep them at bay. You can take a break when you feel the stress increasing and then you might never reach the level of unease as you may have in the past.

5. Be Ready to Pivot-

You will be able to remain calm at work if you're flexible. Being ready to pivot when a situation doesn't end up the way you expected can put you into a state of being where you feel caught up in coming up with viable solutions rather than overwhelmed at the idea. Pivoting means being able to regroup and deal with new issues that come up. When you have this mindset, you can expect to feel calm in the face of adversity at work.

6. Ask Questions-

Most important, don't hesitate to ask questions if you don't understand something you're working on or are unclear about a manager's expectations for your work. If you have a clear idea of how your day should progress, what takes priority and how something is accomplished, it'll help you feel less stressed and calmer as you tackle your work responsibilities.

7. The Day Will End Soon-

If you’re in a horrible, stressful work situation and you’re leading a team, remember that in a few hours, you will be able to go home and regroup. Remind yourself that this won’t last forever. Your boss will go home and everyone else will too, giving you time to think. When you do get home, this is when you can disconnect and brainstorm your plan of attack for the next day. This will allow you to hit the ground running.

8. You Were Employed for a Reason-

Last but not least, When you’re leading a new team, you’re going to need to figure things out. Meet people and find out what work your team is doing. Don’t panic. Take a deep breath. Think back to a time when you’ve been in a similar situation and how you overcame it. Remind yourself that you would never have been chosen for this leadership role if you couldn’t handle it. You’ve shown potential and people believe in you.

Staying calm in stressful situations is not that difficult, all you need is some practice.

These are some simple ways to train your brain to be more patient. Changing the way you think of a situation and staying positive is most important in keeping cool whenever you feel overwhelmed and stressed.

By training your mind and body, and reframing your daily experiences, you can thrive under pressure and not degrade under stress. And when all else fails, when you’re about ready to pound the desk or scream at a colleague, just remember - inhale one, two, three, four…

I hope this article helps you become better at your workplace.

Despite what you may have heard, if you can remain calm and reasonable, your people will always look up to you as a thought leader.