Work pressure: get control before it controls you.

• Author: Rop, John

We all know what it is like to feel as though pressures at work are going to kill you. We have faced impossible deadlines. We have run full steam ahead to tackle unbearable workloads. We have juggled too many things that needed to be done at once. We have delivered for that boss who did not care about anything except getting the job done. We have stepped up to get things done when staff or co-workers were away at critical times. We have handled all different types of work pressures, and we have survived to deal with still more.

Each day, we face many different types of work pressure. We often cope with the pressure by racing to get today's problems out of the way with just enough time to catch a quick breath before starting all over again tomorrow. We are easily sucked into a crisis management vortex wherein work pressures constantly control our actions. We can get so caught up in it that we forget to ask ourselves some hard questions. Do we want to continually react to work pressures, or would we rather be in control of the pressures we face at work? Are we prepared to control the pressures that build up in our work environments, or are we resigned to having them control us?

The reality of any job situation is that work pressure is a constant challenge. Those of us in the municipal finance profession must confront the pressures arising from the constant collision of fiscal limitations and the service delivery expectations of constituents, elected officials, and staff. We are in the customer service business and thus our focus has to be on serving both external and internal clients. Unfortunately, customer expectations almost always exceed the fiscal capacity of our organizations, creating a unique and challenging set of work pressures.

I want to share some of the practices I believe are vital for successfully handling work pressures. Over the years these practices have helped me cope with many different types of work pressure, ultimately ensuring that work pressures did not control my actions either on or off the job. They have helped me stay in control of my job, rather than being controlled by my job. In some cases, these practices have even helped me to use work pressures as a springboard for raising the bar on my productivity and effectiveness at work.

Below is a list of the practices I have used for dealing with work pressure. Many of these practices stem from good old-fashioned common sense. This list is neither all-inclusive nor guaranteed to work for everyone all of the time. You may already be utilizing most, if not all, of these practices to handle your work pressures. Maybe reading this will be a good refresher and reminder for you. Maybe there are one or two new practices you can deploy that will help you to handle your work pressures. Take what you want and leave the rest.

YOUR MENTAL APPROACH TO WORK

Be positive. Look for reasons to find and create success at work. It is far too easy to be negative, critical, cynical, or sarcastic tic about your work. Actively work to move ideas forward in one way or another. This is so much better than sitting on the sidelines criticizing the actions of others. When you are at work, focus primarily on the types of work you enjoy doing. Do the things you are good at and get help from others to address those things that you want to learn to do better. When you make mistakes, don't beat yourself up. Instead, learn from your mistakes so that you do not repeat them. Refuse to let other people or difficult situations drag you down. And don't waste an inordinate amount of time and effort addressing negative pressures. Rather, direct your time and energy toward positive contributions to your organization.

Find solutions. Be determined in your efforts to find solutions to problems. Focus on...