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How do you handle stress and pressure If stress and pressure hamper your productivity and ability to lead, you need to hear this out.

Recent studies indicate a surge in stress levels, with nearly half of leadership roles grappling with mental health issues like anxiety and depression.

Despite alarming statistics, maintaining composure under pressure is achievable with effective stress management strategies.

Let’s learn about practical methods to handle stress and pressure, empowering you to lead with resilience and poise.

Why do you get stressed at work?

Along with a leadership job comes enormous responsibilities and challenges, which contribute to heightening stress levels. Some common causes of stress in leadership roles include

1. High Levels of Responsibility

Stress is inevitable in a leadership position as leaders bear the ultimate responsibility for the success and performance of the entire organization. And when you need to shoulder all these responsibilities, you naturally get stressed and anxious. 

2. Constraints of Time 

You are often under tight schedules, juggling multiple tasks, meetings, and responsibilities, leading to time-related stress. So, you cannot blame yourself when you feel exhausted. 

From managing talents to the pressure of making crucial decisions, you need to handle it all, as a result, your work-life balance goes for a toss. 

3. Preparing for continuous change and uncertainty

The dynamic business environment requires you to adapt to constant changes and navigate uncertainties, which can be mentally taxing.

4. Meeting the expectations of stakeholders

Meeting the expectations of shareholders, board members, employees, and customers can create immense pressure on you.

5. Facing public scrutiny

You are often in the public eye, and your decisions and actions may face scrutiny from the media, regulatory bodies, and the public.

6. Facing strategic challenges

Crafting and implementing effective long-term strategies requires intense focus and can be stressful, especially in competitive industries.

7. Negative self-talk

The urge to get stuff done compromises your psychological and neurological health. The culture of perfection adds fuel to the fire and leads to negativity, unattainable expectations, and negative self-talk. 

8. Stigma around stress

As per a survey, 26 percent of C-suite employees accept the fact that there is a stigma around talking about mental health and stress. So, even if you are stressed you hesitate to discuss it due to the stigma attached. 

You need to recognize and address these stressors because they will help you use effective coping mechanisms and support systems to maintain your well-being and leadership effectiveness.

How does stress affect you?

You might be so used to the stressful situation that you don’t realize how exhausted you are. But believe us, it can affect you and worsen your health even if you don’t realize it. 

The effects of stress can be long-term and short-term. So, here are the symptoms.

Short-term effects 

• Trouble sleeping
• Anxiety
• Headache
• Upset stomach 
• Shallow breathing

Long-term effects

• Back pain
• Heart disease
• Depression
• A weakened immune system
• Lasting muscle aches and pains

To stay away from all these physical and mental health issues, you need to take action as soon as you see these symptoms or the effects of stress.

How do you handle stress and pressure?

You can use several scientifically proven tips to stay calm and composed in a high-pressure situation at your workplace. Check them out 

1. Understand your threshold

Every human being has unique ways to deal with stress as we are a psychologically diverse species. Some call this emotional intelligence and others call it resilience, grit, or emotional stability. 

Whatever the label, these traits help you cope with work pressure and stay cool-headed. The only thing you need to do is understand your stress tolerance levels. As per experts, to understand that you can

• Get feedback from a trusted colleague or friend in the office
• Pay attention to your emotional reaction to a triggering situation
• Self-evaluate your performance in different degrees of pressure

Knowing when you get triggered, helps you manage your reactions in those situations.

2. Know your pressure trigger

Once you learn about your personality and how you react to a high-pressure situation, you should know what exactly triggers you. Ask yourself these questions

• Do you get stressed by deadlines and high workloads?
• Do you think that you are failing to balance your work and family or social life? Does that make you anxious and stressed?
•  Is it about the unhealthy diet you are following?
• Is there a conflict between you and your colleague?

Whatever the cause is, try to find it out. The best part is, once you know what triggers you, you can learn to minimize such situations that put too much pressure on you. You can do so by planning, prioritizing, and picking your battles. You might also have to go out of your comfort zone but know exactly when to say NO. 

3. Use these tips to stay calm

Truth be told, you cannot always avoid pressure. You cannot eliminate stress from your life but you can learn how to handle it better. Here are some tips to cope with stress and pressure:

A) Do Meditation for mental relaxation 

Relaxation strategies will help you fight stress and handle aptly fight-or-flight situations. To relax, you need to close your eyes and sit comfortably. 

Start from your legs and move upward, systematically contracting and then releasing each major muscle group. 

Maintain the tension for 10 seconds, followed by a 20-second relaxation. As you release the muscle tension, mentally repeat the word “relax.” Developing this technique, along with various other relaxation strategies, can assist in lowering symptoms of anxiety and stress.

It is fine if these strategies don’t work for you. You can use a tool to calm your senses down.

GoRoga is one such tool that can help you calm down whenever you are overwhelmed by work pressure. And the best is it does that fast and naturally. 

Stress should not be a hindrance in your way when you are out there to lead. And GoRoga Life makes sure that you stay stress-free and take control of it for a happier and healthier life. 

Co-founder and Chief Scientist at GoRoga, Dr. Alison Smith, suffered from stress and anxiety for a long time and decided to help thousands of leaders like her across the globe. 

When she was struggling, most tools didn’t work and talks and therapy were time-consuming as they worked slowly. She wanted something that really worked and was less time-consuming.  These tools and apps are expensive too. 

She fulfilled her desire to help others by creating GoRoga. 

GoRoga is fast and puts you back in the driver’s seat. It is a therapeutic wearable that you need to wear like a pair of headphones. These padded headphones send a gentle pulse to your brain that signals safety to your nervous system.

Above all, it’s not magic, it’s pure science!

Created to administer non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) at a scientifically validated frequency to lower moderate to severe stress, this amazing tool utilizes the two compact stimulation pads positioned behind your ears. 

GoRoga Life effectively diminishes brain activation linked to worry and rumination and promotes alpha brain waves associated with a tranquil mental state. 

GoRoga has made stress-reducing NIBS more accessible, appealing, and user-friendly, helping you to enjoy its benefits in the comfort of your home.

All you need to do is

Step1

Stick the stimulation pads behind your ears.

Step 2

Open the GoRoga Life app and enjoy your guided sessions designed by qualified instructors.

Step 3

Get relief from stress and anxiety as the tiny pulses interrupt all your stress signals, relieving your nervous system and helping you feel better and fresh. 

B) Respond to stress by making healthy choices

Instead of using fast food or alcohol to cope with stress, try to make healthy choices when you feel stressed. Doing exercise, like yoga or any physical activity, is a good way to reduce stress. 

Don’t forget to spend time on hobbies and activities you enjoy, like reading, going to concerts, or playing games with your family. Getting a good night’s sleep is also important for managing stress. 

Create healthy sleep habits by avoiding too much caffeine in the evening and staying away from stimulating activities, such as using the computer or watching TV, before bedtime.

C) Practice problem solving

Problem-solving can be used as a coping mechanism. It is a way to deal with challenges by taking specific steps. These steps include figuring out the problem, thinking of possible solutions, ranking them, making a plan, and trying out the chosen solution.

D) Practice mindfulness

Mindfulness is the skill that helps you focus on the current moment with curiosity, openness, and acceptance. Stress can increase when we dwell on the past, feel scared about the future, or over-criticize ourselves. 

Mindfulness trains the brain to break these harmful habits. You can develop mindfulness through formal practices like guided meditation and informal activities like mindful walking.

E) Get some ME time

“I usually go to a quiet place. A bathroom cubicle works wonders. I close my eyes, turn inward, and breathe,” Oprah Winfrey says in her book What I Know for Sure. 

You have heard it from the horse’s mouth. Going to a quiet place can really help you bring down your stress levels.

F) Get ample sleep

The preparation for your office happened the previous night.

How?

It’s all about catching those precious Zs. 

“There is that special glow after a good night’s sleep when you feel really in the zone… You feel like, ‘Bring it on — you know I can handle anything!” said Arianna Huffington, the co-founder of Huffington Post, the founder and CEO of Thrive Global. 

G) Get medical support

We understand that C-suite jobs and stress go hand in hand and all the tips mentioned above will work slowly and only when you apply them consistently. 

At times, you may feel desperate as nothing works and you feel like your world is going to crumble due to excessive stress and anxiety. 

In that case, you should approach a general practitioner who can suggest some coping mechanisms for you or may recommend some type of counseling or cognitive behavioral therapy.  

Conclusion 

Stress and mental health challenges are part and parcel of leadership roles. It is a reality that cannot be ignored, particularly in today’s demanding work environments. 

But you can manage stress and pressure by acknowledging the sources of it, understanding its effects on your short-term and long-term well-being, and implementing effective coping strategies.

Recognizing your stress triggers, practicing mindfulness, making healthy choices, and seeking support are key components of a comprehensive approach to stress management. 

Most importantly, it’s essential to prioritize self-care, including adequate sleep and personal time, to build resilience and navigate the challenges of leadership successfully.

FAQ :

References

https://www.who.int/news/item/02-03-2022-covid-19-pandemic-triggers-25-increase-in-prevalence-of-anxiety-and-depression-worldwide
https://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/content/news/c-suite-staff-require-more-support-with-stress/
https://hbr.org/2022/05/how-to-deal-with-high-pressure-situations-at-work

Do you know that you can fight victoriously the stress and resultant frustration and anxiety at your workplace?

Yes, it’s very much doable. 

With C-suite and leadership jobs, stress is inevitable and this stress leads to irritation, and frustration, and disturbs your peace of mind.  But if you take the right steps you can conquer stress and work pressure easily. 

Failing to address office stress can lead to damaged relationships with colleagues, a decline in performance metrics, and ultimately, negative effects on your personal life.

If you think that the only way to avoid a stressful situation at the office is to switch workplaces or organizations, you are making a mistake, as you cannot avoid stress and pressure in a leadership job, no matter whichever company you join. 

But once you learn to fight stress at the workplace, you can be that confident professional who is not only appreciated by your seniors but also respected by your colleagues. Shifting the gears of your growth curve on the corporate ladder becomes much easier once you learn to handle stressful situations. 

How?

The best way is to learn from seniors who have bigger responsibilities, targets,  accountabilities,  and much higher dependencies on others to perform.

You are not alone in your fight against stress. We are here to help you by revealing effective strategies adopted by senior management including CXOs and entrepreneurs to manage stress and remain focused on their key result areas (KRAs)  and performance. 

These leaders and achievers have experienced and successfully navigated similar stress-inducing situations in both life and their careers.

Let’s dive down to understand 10 tried and tested ways senior management executives use to reduce stress at work.

10 ways to reduce stress at work

1. Learn to manage yourself:

The Leaders including c-suite job holders, and entrepreneurs know that their environment is the reflection of their actions and behaviors.

Yes, that’s the fact. 

 That’s why they focus more on managing their energy levels. That’s the reason you will find most of these people are always at high energy levels. 

To attain that level of energy, they consistently focus on handling stress, managing anxieties, optimizing their time and concentration, adopting smart working techniques, effective delegation, developing skills, and utilizing goal-tracking frameworks.

The Most important among all is their stress management strategies. 

The Hypothesis on which they work is that a stressed and anxious mind  

• Can’t think of innovative and smart solutions for problems,
• Can’t look for opportunities in problematic situations, 
• Can’t be focused on action plans.

Sounds obvious?

We are sure you already know all of it. But have you tried to manage your stress levels?

And even if you tried, have you succeeded? 

You fail to manage your stress level, as you consciously don’t train your mind to handle these situations. Hence, when the situation comes, you start reacting rather than addressing it with planned strategies.

Besides, the problem is finding an easy solution to have better control of your mind that suits you as well. 

Let us help you out!

Here are some ways c-suite leaders and super successful entrepreneurs manage their stress levels in order of simplicity to use & adopt. 

a. Use Stress-bursting devices

Stress-bursting devices are in trend among today’s generation of leaders. With the fast-paced life, leaders are expected to decide and act fast, so there is little room for conventional methods to calm your mind down to achieve clarity of thoughts.

The most popular device in this category is an Alpha wave generator device. Alpha waves are associated with calmer and more restful mental states, leading researchers to believe that they might contribute to reducing anxiety and stress.

GoRoga is one such device, which is 

• Designed in the USA
• CE certified
• Easy to use
• Easy to carry
• Can be used anywhere (home/office/ during travel)

If you want to order this device, you can order at

b. Practice Meditation

This is the most profound and most effective tool used by C-suite leaders. Meditation is the next step of conscious focus. Those who practice meditation have little problem focusing on anything.

And when you are focused, you will automatically have the confidence and get innovative ideas to deal with the problem.

Along with faith and trust in GOD, meditation helps you take your mind to an alpha state on your wish. The alpha state of mind is when you are the calmest and hence completely stress-free. This is the best state of mind for innovative, creative, and constructive ideas.

However, Meditation is a skill that needs regular practice for months, years, and decades ( depending upon your personality)  to reach the levels where you can take your mind to an alpha state at will.

This is exactly why stress burster devices (particularly alpha wave generators) are becoming popular among the new generation of leaders. 

2. Identify the triggers: 

The C-suite leaders and entrepreneurs believe that stress starts with a trigger and there can be multiple reasons for the stress. 

Moreover, they also believe that different actions or strategies would be required to address, mitigate, or avoid the trigger and associated reasons.

They don’t generalize the problem or a situation and don’t apply any random quick fix to solve the problem temporarily. Rather they deploy a thought-through action plan to solve the trigger and associated problems for a long-term perspective permanently.  

 So, these leaders identify the triggering points that increase their stress levels.

The typical stress points for senior levels are certain people in the team, certain capabilities of a team or individual member or team, timelines, Targets, Competition, customer pressures, and investor pressures.

3. Device an appropriate action plan to avoid or mitigate the trigger:

Rather than reacting, they first ensure that their mind is in the right frame to make decisions or chop out the action plan. 

They use calming devices, meditation, or any other mind-diverting strategy (such as a hobby, sport, or exercise) to bring back the natural calmness of the mind.

When they are sure that their minds are capable of thinking rationally and calm enough to give innovative, constructive, and goal-oriented ideas, only then, do they design action points for each stress trigger and their associated reasons.

This ensures that they are making decisions and creating action plans considering the bigger picture and needs of the organization rather than reacting to a situation.

Once they deploy an action point in execution, they observe the changes very minutely and, if required, carefully assess the action plan further to get the desired outcomes.

Once the assessment exercise is done they institutionalize the action points by updating systems and processes. 

If the action point is modifying their attributes like behavior, communication style, or reaction style, they habitualise the action point by multiple repetitions. 

4. Effective Communication:

Clear communication reduces misunderstandings and stress. A good workplace needs people to be able to talk to each other openly and honestly.

Steps to Implement:

a. Active Listening: 

Pay attention to colleagues’ perspectives.

b. Express Expectations Clearly: 

In addition to meeting expectations, discuss and convey your tasks.

c. Provide Constructive Feedback: 

It is essential to provide feedback that is not just helpful but also positive towards the individual.

d. Hold Regular Team Meetings: 

Facilitate open discussions to address concerns and updates.

For instance, visualize a team where information flows seamlessly. Effective communication minimizes confusion and ensures everyone is on the same page, reducing stress.

5. Effective time management strategies:

The leaders and senior management executives know very well that time is an unreplaceable resource and they learn the skill of prioritization to maximally utilize their day for urgent and important tasks and also able to extract time for hobbies, sports, and exercises.

They continuously seek better ways to manage their own time and the time of their teams to be most productive individually and with the team.

6. Effective delegation:

The leaders and senior management guys know very well how to delegate and when to delegate. They know very well that they can’t meet their KRAs without delegation.

Delegation is often painful for these guys as it can impact the quality of the outcome. 

They learn delegation professionally or with experience and keep on refining the art of delegation.

They use the best ways to delegate without impacting the outcome of delegated work.

7. Avoid negative people and staff:

This is a very common reason for stress in work environments. The Leaders and senior management professionals keep themselves away from negative people, who look for problems everywhere or drain the energy of the whole team with their behaviors and attitude.

These leaders keep motivated solution finders who can find the solution and opportunity in any situation.

They often arrange training for such employees, change reporting, or even make tough decisions when there are no other options left.

8. Pursue their hobbies:

The senior leaders use their hobbies as mind-diverting and mind-calming tools. Your hobby is what you love to do with full focus and dedication and hence helps you to completely divert your mind from the day-to-day chaos.  

They identify the hobby which they can pursue on a daily or weekly basis based on their time schedules.

If the hobby includes physical movements such as exercise and sports then it helps much faster.

Once zeroed down, they put conscious effort into pursuing their hobbies on a set frequency and this hobby-pursuing habit brings back the mind to a natural calm state. 

9. Focus on the present:

Leaders believe that both the past and future can only be changed if they are focused on the present. 

You would invariably find them never remorseing for their past failures. They take lessons from those failures and apply the lessons learned in their present to make the future bright.

They are not even scared about risking their future. What the best they can do today and now is their sole focus most of the time. 

Continuous focus on the present gives them the confidence that the future will only be better and brighter than their present in the long term. 

10. Short periodic trips with friends or family:

Spending time with loved ones is one of the most known ways to change the mood and make your mind calm and refreshed.

The leaders understand it very well and with effective time management techniques they ensure that they are spending more time with their friends or family on a set frequency outside of the day-to-day environment. 

Instead of one long vacation in a year, they prefer more frequent short breaks and never miss long weekends (Weekends which are followed or succeeded by a public holiday) 

Conclusion

You spend most of the time of the day in the office. If you are stressed at your workplace, you are stressed almost all the time. Hence you must take action to manage your stress level at your workplace. 

Changing the workplace is not a solution. However, preparing yourself with the right ways, effective tools & devices, and strategies for reducing stress is the practical solution.

Most importantly, you need to learn to manage stress and pressure at work and equip yourself with tools like meditation or stress-buster devices.