Imagine that you are sitting at your desk, blissfully thinking about your plans for the weekend. Suddenly your intercom shatters the silence, it’s your boss on the other side and he wants you to come to his cabin. You panic, feel a tightness gripping your chest while finding it difficult to breathe. Your mind races back and forth trying to find out what you did wrong.
Welcome to the world of stress.
A common accepted definition of stress is that it occurs when a person perceives that ‘demands exceeds the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilise.” Perception is key to this, as situations are not usually stressful in their own right. Rather it is our interpretation of the situation that drives the level of stress that we feel. For instance, in the above example, the boss might have called you just to routinely check on something. The panic attack was perception-induced. So, we can overcome this by applying some perception-based strategies to eliminate the stress.
Thought Awareness helps you understand that negative thinking, unpleasant memories and misinterpretation of situations may interfere with your performance and damage your self-confidence.
Rational Thinking is the technique that helps you challenge these negative thoughts and either learn from them or refute them
Positive Thinking is then used to create positive affirmations that you can use to counter negative thoughts. These affirmations neutralise negative thoughts and build your self-confidence. It is also used to find the opportunities that are almost always present to some degree in a difficult situation.
Then there are action-based strategies, which are practical and useful. The first strategy is called Job Analysis. We are all aware that job overload is an important source of stress. To do an excellent job, you need to fully understand what is expected of you. This may seem obvious, however in a fast-moving, high-pressure role, it’s something that is often easy to overlook. By understanding the priorities of your job, and what constitutes success within it, you can focus on these activities and minimise the work on other tasks as much as possible. This helps you get the greatest return from the work you do, while keeping your workload under control.
Job analysis is a technique that is useful to get a firm a firm grip on what is really important in your job, so that you can perform excellently.
How do you perform a job analysis?
Review formal job documentation. Understand the organisation vision and culture. Find out how toppers achieve and how they are successful. Check that you have the people and resources to do the job. Confirm priorities with your boss.
R A Nadesan is an executive coach, behavioural and soft skills trainer with a pan India presence. He can be reached at ranadesan@yahoo.co.uk