How To Remain Calm Under Pressure: Pressure is an emotional feeling of distress that can arise out of circumstances which are of immediate concern and may pose serious danger and cause discomfort to the mind of the person so distressed. Pressure is a mindful feeling of restlessness. It is a normal life phenomenon for one to find himself under pressure. One who has a deadline to meet may find himself working under pressure.
One who has life threatening emergency situations could be met with pressure. Pressure is synonymous to distress. It is reoccurring and unavoidable life event which may come by many ways and may be given rise to by any circumstance.
What is necessary thereon is the human effect you make in order to avoid or limit the occasions of distress as much as possible, as well as your attitude towards managing the distress. A popular saying reads that wisdom is ceased in the event of pressure. This saying explains the fact that while working or acting under pressure, there is usually a little or no adequate time to reason and respond meticulously. Therefore a few or more mistakes may be occasioned in the course of working or acting under pressure, although this may not always be the case.
People can work under pressure and still be calm. Being under pressure is characterized by being in a position where immediate efforts is to be expended in order to meet difficult demands given rise to by an event or series of events, coupled with the required time frame, expectations and resource demands. While some people will work or act better under pressure, it puts many in distress. Being calm while under pressure will certainly help one to thrive better.
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Below are tips on how to remain calm while under pressure:
1. Breath Management: Breath management is a powerful technique for invoking calmness while under pressure. First, you should take you a deep breath slowly and then breathe out. Do it again and again. The activity sends signal to your brain and to your mind to get relaxed. By inhaling deeply, you are taking in enough oxygen into your system to match up with the distress. You would notice that people who understand how to deal with pressure will usually employ this technique.
It works perfectly and the exercise has the ability of relaxing your mind and your nerves for the moment. It happens that while under pressure, people unconsciously withhold their breath or breath less than they should, ordinarily. In an emergency situation, already, the stress hormone (adrenaline) is released in the bloodstream to enable you manage the flight situation. By then, the heart beats faster and the blood moves at an elevated pace. These are unconscious reactions, and taking a deep breath has been shown to actually work in making you calm.
2. Meditate: Meditation is a relaxation exercise. It is the act of contemplating; looking at all sides of the situation with deliberate attention in order to consider the situation as a possibility. Meditation is a positive act done with a positive intent in order to come out with a positive end-point.
Meditation allows you to evaluate the possibility of something. It is a perfect positive response to distress. Meditation must be distinguished from worrying. While the latter is energetic and negative, the former is positive, calm and relaxed. It has been proven that meditation helps in the management of pressure. And while meditating, you should be mindful of not crossing the line to worrying.
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3. Take a Walk: Taking a walk is a verified way of easing stress that comes from pressure. Even though you are under pressure, try not to get too focused for a long time. Taking out a short time for a walk won’t defeat your effort; it will rather help your brain function property after you have returned from the work. You can take the work with a friend, and you can choose to play some music while on it.
Just take the walk. It’s equally an easy healthy exercise. Taking a walk clears your compacted head and even fills you in with new ideas or approach to tackle your duty. It is an opportunity to get some fresh air and even say ‘Hi’ to one or more people. The feeling is magical, and it is a practical technique to remain calm while under pressure.
4. Listen to music: Music will always come in and play its role whenever feelings are involved. Being under pressure for whatever cause is an emotional set-back. Playing music can help you get relaxed and calm quickly. You can vibe to your favourite genres and artists, or you can just play random songs. Just listen to music and feel better. You can choose to take break while listening to music or choose to listen to them while still on duty. Whichever way works perfectly.
There are relaxing slow-strings songs that you can play that when they set in, the environment becomes calm. If you are a musical instrumentalist, that’s the best thing you owe yourself at the time of pressure. Try and spend some time with your familiar instrument and see how you’d become calm within a short while.
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5. Focus on the end-goal: Instead of getting bothered or even discouraged by the instant state of things, draw your strength, hope and motivation from the end-goal. Focusing on your end-goal has way of reviving and refurbishing your energy. At some point of distress the only motivation you will get is the end-goal; try to focus on it.
The end-goal of every demand is always positive, ceremonial, hopeful and yielding. Having this at the back of your mind will keep you motivated, consistent, calm and happy.
6. Leverage on possibilities and the positives: Worrying about negativities will only draw about negativities in return. While under pressure, there are always possibilities that you should focus on. Remind yourself that the chances will work only when you try. You will be more productive when you leverage on the possibilities and feed mind with positives.
Positivity is what stimulates possibilities, otherwise they won’t be appreciated. When you think positively, you are by default relaxed, and when you think that there are possibilities, there is little or nothing to be worried about. Then you would feel calmness taking its place.
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7. Disintegrate the tasks in bits: If you are under pressure following the circumstance of having so much demand to meet up with, you can allow calmness take its place by disintegrating the bulky tasks in bits. This helps in reducing stress while still being very productive. It is a mind effect; heavy demands and expectations are simplified by fulfilling them bit by bit.
This reduces the pressure and makes the goal achievable. And when the goal is made to look possible, then there is no reason not to be calm.
8. Surround yourself with positive-minded people: It is not enough to be positive. Positivity is fulfilled when no chances are given for negative influence, and this is attainable by surrounding yourself with people who are positive-minded. Surrounding yourself with positive-minded people reduces stress drastically and improves productivity.
Even when you begin to nurse the feeling to back off from pressure entirely, there should be people who give you reasons not to. After all, avoiding responsibilities is never a solution. Positive -minded yet people will help calm your nerves and yet boost your productivity level.
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9. Positive Affirmations: It’s so much about positivity. Positive affirmation is a sure technique to employ and get calm over a lingering pressure. It is simply the act of reassuring oneself by positive declarations.
10. Get enough sleep: The list won’t be exhausted in the absence of this heading. The benefit of having enough sleep is overwhelming, especially when one is under pressure.
Put simply, getting enough sleep relaxes your blood vessels and makes you calm. It keeps you cool and fresh for the task ahead. In all pressures, try and get enough sleep.
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11. Get a break: Regardless of the quantum of tasks or demands putting you under pressure, having a break is of utmost necessity. Put the task to a halt for some time and get some distractions out there.
12. Healthy Food: There are certain foods that can help relax the blood vessels such as tomatoes, milk, citrus fruits, fatty fish, walnuts, vegetables, avacado and so many others. Such foods can serve as vasodilators; substances capable of relaxing the blood vessel. Healthy feeding is therefore recommended in managing pressure.
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In Conclusion, pressure being a regular life event is unavoidable but very much resistible. They can come in many ways and in any circumstance, but one can remain calm amidst the storm by fulfilling the recommendations made in this article.
Edeh Samuel Chukwuemeka, ACMC, is a lawyer and a certified mediator/conciliator in Nigeria. He is also a developer with knowledge in various programming languages. Samuel is determined to leverage his skills in technology, SEO, and legal practice to revolutionize the legal profession worldwide by creating web and mobile applications that simplify legal research. Sam is also passionate about educating and providing valuable information to people.