(if it doesn't play here, click to go to YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuEkZ692jQM)
I made this video for my website with the help of some film and television students at the career college where I work part time. It's one of my favorite classes to teach because we get to be creative, work hard AND work as a team - a great way to encourage teamwork is to make a short film!
Feelings of frustration and being overwhelmed as work piles up around you can stop a hard-working person in their tracks. Everybody experiences this from time to time and a lot us us pull out of it fairly quickly, but some people get stuck in a rut that can last for quite a while.
Here are some tips that may help when you find yourself in such a rut. They work for me by sparking myself back to my purpose in life when things get busy and unfocused around me.
1) Create your own mission statement.
Business have them why not people? Ever wonder what you are really doing on this blue marble? It goes beyond breathing and eating, of course, so write one down and print it out to make it official. It can change over time, and that's cool, too. I'd say the hardest thing for me to ever do was to focus on a direction and writing about it had been difficult over the years. Living through a state I define as 'gradual fusion', my mission statement pretty much wrote itself. I wrote it in about ten seconds one day when trying to sharpen my focus and it was an instant hit (with me).
2) Remind yourself every day about your mission in life.
Seeing my mission statement every single day keeps me focused and on track. If I find myself in a tough situation of work-overload, I look at my focused statement and some how everything is back to normal. It's truly amazing how simple it is to get back to a rational state of mind after reminding myself where I am going.
3) Get inspired!
Inspirational material is everywhere in print, online or from a helpful listener a few doors down. It doesn't matter where the material comes from as long as it does the job of getting you inspired. Every time I need inspiration, I go to my old books with powerful messages and get fired up immediately. Me? Need inspiration? I am a hard working human being and I, too, get overwhelmed from time to time, but it doesn't last long because I don't let it...I know how to get around it.
4) Sort out the most important tasks from the least important.
Let's face it, not everything we do on a day to day basis will cause the stock market to crash if we don't do it perfectly and by the exact due date. Some things can wait a little longer than others and it's all in the way we communicate that to others. Sometimes it can feel as if everybody is pulling at you from all angles and then the phone rings and the emails pile up. Get to them according to order of importance and remember to post a vacation response on an email when you are 'virtually' out of the office.
5) When somebody gets angry with you, respond in a calm tone, no matter what.
As unpleasant and unnerving as it is to listen to an angry person get all in your face, raising your voice back at them won't solve anything and you may regret what you say. It's easy to yell and difficult to restrain from it when someone is yelling at you, but it works to your advantage in the end. Back in the late 1990's, I let a guy treat me horribly in front of others and my response to him was very calm and helpful and he couldn't do any more than he did - it confused him. Everybody watching the scene sided with me almost instantly. That was only one of many similar scenarios. Controlling reactions is a learned skill.
6) Let people know at the start about any possible snags that may occur.
Informing people about possible issues and snags can soften the blow to them and reduce your own stress when the deadline must be extended. Nothing is perfect in life and unless a country will explode, the situation must be dealt with rationally. If there is a multi-million dollar deal that will fall through unless a deadline is met, there should be more people on the job and that can be discussed up front.
7) Take a few moments at the start of the day to arrange tasks.
I find I can sleep better and avoid thoughts rushing around in my brain if I simply write out what I am going to do the next day. I sometimes decide to write these things on the morning I start the day and I check them off as I go. If they can't be done, they get put on the next day's list, but they are always listed based on priority. I had read about this practice many years ago and have been doing it ever since. By writing them down, I took the first step and no matter what happens during the day, I know where to find the list if I need to.
8) And now, the number one way to help eliminate work stress and avoid being stuck in a rut..........have a laugh! This really should be number one, but it lightens up the end of this article. Share a funny, tasteful joke, funny email or news paper cartoon. Paste a funny thing to your fridge at work, etc.
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