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Have you ever had to fire someone?  I have.  Have you ever had to go without a paycheck so the company can stay in business another 2 weeks?  I have.  Have you ever had to go to a client knowing that if they didn’t come back with a check the company wouldn’t make payroll?  I have.

Don’t let workplace stress get to you!

Work can be stressful and the more successful you are, the higher you rise on your chosen career path, the more stressful it becomes.  Here are some strategies to productively deal with that stress.

1. Recognize and acknowledge the stress signals.

   If you’re feeling stress your body is sending you a signal.  At a basic level it is an animal response, a warning to activate your ‘fight or flight’ systems. If you try to ‘work through’, sublimate or ignore the signal it will cause you to get sick and lose sleep, etc.  Let your big brain in on it.  “OK - I’m feeling stress because…I have too many things to get done or I have a big make-or-break presentation this week…”Once you begin to think rationally about the stress root-cause you can drain the emotional content and create positive strategies to deal with it.

2. Write it down - make a list.

   A common cause of stress is having more tasks to accomplish than time to accomplish them.  You brain goes haywire because you’ve presented it with an unsolvable problem. Write all your tasks down on physical paper and be specific.  (”More Revenue” is not actionable “Create top 5 marketing initiatives” is.)  Just the act of creating a physical list will remove the emotional content.  Your brain will be able to relax because it knows that these things are safely recorded somewhere.

3. Triage is essential - You’re never going to get everything done

   The real question is what are you going to get done today? Here’s a shocker for you - you’re never going to get to the end of your list!  Deal with it.  Some stuff doesn’t get done and the world doesn’t end!  You’ve got to figure out a way to prioritize tasks and projects so that you get the important one’s done well.  Have you ever dealt with that executive who never seems to call you back?  You’re on the bottom of his/her list!If you’re in sales then all your revenue producing tasks will be on the top.  You might want to talk with your boss or look at the company’s mission - which of your direct projects and tasks align with those?

4. Schedule a long night or a weekend day - to get caught up.

   You don’t have to work late every day, but sucking it up and setting aside a 4-5 hour undisturbed block of time can make all the difference in clearing a work bulge.  Without the phone ringing and email buzzing you can accelerate through your pile of to-do’s.  Many of the really important projects you have require a solid multi-hour block of time to tackle.  One long night can save you weeks of stress.

5. Learn how to skim - most of the time 80% is good enough.

   Part of your triage process is to determine which tasks require 100% and which don’t.  Follow the advice of Pareto and focus on the 80% of the task that is important.  Many times it’s better to do it fast than to do it perfect.  Many times the person who needs the work done would rather have 80% today than 100% next week.Of course there are those tasks that require perfection.  The important part is to determine which ones are which and act accordingly.  Winging critical things is as bad as delivering perfection when perfection isn’t required.

6. Stay cheerful.

   It’s ok to be focused, but you don’t have to be miserable.  Being miserable or feeling overwhelmed is a choice.  Strive to be one of those unflappable people who always have a positive outlook no matter what the crisis.  Those people are called leaders.  As Jon Gordon would say you are “Blessed to be Stressed”.

The truth is that the job isn’t stressing you out, you are stressing yourself out in the way you respond to the stress signals. Let me know what you think…

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