AS WE HAVE SEEN, performing well under pressure requires the four basic steps of SBRT: Stop, Breathe, Rewrite, and Take Action. To review:
• Stop refers to noticing and then interrupting mental and physical cues that you are under pressure.
• Breathe means to engage in deep breathing or mindfulness in order to counteract the automatic physiological response to pressure and keep it under control.
• Rewriting involves noticing and challenging thought distortions in order to create an accurate perception of the situation at hand.
• Finally, taking action refers to the use of a problem-solving approach to respond to the situation with immediate action.
In the remaining chapters of this pocket guide, we will describe how to practice and apply these steps in commonly stressful workplace situations. In particular, we will focus on the following five situational stressors:
1. Time
2. Anger
3. People
4. Fatigue
5. Evaluation
We begin in this chapter with the first stressor: time.
Time Pressure
Are you constantly living by a calendar, doing two things at once, checking your watch, and becoming overly irritated when you must do such things as wait in line? These are signs that you are feeling the pressure of time. Many workers feel this pressure on a daily basis.
Take Moe, for instance. On a typical day, he has three meetings in the morning and a presentation to give in the afternoon. He also must answer important emails and finish several reports. Today promises to be typical until Moe gets stuck in traffic on the way to work. Not wanting to cancel his first meeting, he tries to cut ahead of other cars. The difficulty of this makes him so angry, he’s still cursing under his breath as he gets to work—where his assistant promptly reports that the first meeting has been set back 20 minutes. “Why did you allow that?” Moe yells at her. “This disrupts my entire day! Reschedule my second meeting so I’ll have enough time for the first!” Off to his office Moe goes, to sort through endless email. Each trivial email makes his chest and neck muscles grow tighter. He finds an email that he missed yesterday requiring that a certain report be finished by 1:00 PM today. Realizing that this makes lunch impossible, Moe leaves for his meeting, and then discovers he’s a few minutes early. During the wait, he obsesses about what he could be getting done in his office. By the time the others arrive, he finds himself saying, “Wow, my watch must be fast—I feel like I’ve been waiting for an hour. Let’s finally get to this meeting.” His colleagues look offended by his remarks. Needless to say, by 9:15 AM, Moe already feels as if his day is ruined.
There were many opportunities for Moe to turn his day around, but like most of us when under time pressure, all he could think about was getting everything done. Unfortunately, the “get everything done” approach leads to an impaired stress response. Once that happens, you will feel pressure even if you do meet all your responsibilities. To ward off such a response, you need to notice the cues of time pressure and engage in the SBRT technique as you try to finish your responsibilities.
1. Stop
Common cues for stopping when under time pressure include irritability, anger, general discontent, feeling ready to explode, constantly checking your watch, headache, tight neck and shoulders, concentration problems, and careless errors in speech, writing, or movement.
As soon as one of these symptoms arises, stop.
You must consciously choose to do one thing at a time. Focus only on the task in front of you. Multi-tasking, or dividing your attention, only allows you to do the same number of things in the same amount of time at a lower level of quality. Even computers freeze up when there are too many operations being performed. Instead, choose one task and focus fully on that task.
2. Breathe
When we are under time pressure, it always seems impossible to set aside time to gain control of the situation. Because of this, the best approach is to engage in deep breathing and mindfulness while you work. Both can be performed as you continue to complete your objectives.
One of the most frustrating forms of time pressure is being forced to wait for something or someone. Ironically, waiting can actually be a stroke of good luck. Instead of viewing this downtime as a problem, see it as an opportunity to engage in deep breathing and mindfulness.
For example, look at Moe. Instead of trying to cut ahead in traffic, he could have used the wait to engage in deep breathing; if he had, he would have arrived at work feeling in control and better able to deal with his assistant’s news—his bullying response might have been replaced by a problem-solving interaction. He also could have engaged in deep breathing while waiting for others to arrive for the meeting; if he had, it is likely he would have greeted his colleagues appropriately and have had something constructive to say.
3. Rewrite
Time pressure results in “overload mode.” Overload mode is a general negative feeling, such as distress. It is marked by low confidence, a low sense of control, and many negative thoughts. The rewriting process is thus quite important when you are under time pressure. Remember:
• First, notice your automatic thoughts; be on the lookout for self-talk that includes must, have to, and should statements.
• Next, identify any thought distortions, such as allor-nothing thinking and jumping to conclusions. If you notice any of these, challenge their validity.
• Finally, engage in positive self-talk and replacement self-talk.
For example, let us return to Moe. As he was stuck in traffic, he was most likely thinking: “I can’t believe this; these drivers are idiots; I have to get to that meeting on time or my whole day is shot; my colleagues will think I’m blowing them off and leave me out of the next project; my assistant better cover for me or she’s in trouble” —and so on. Instead of fueling this train of thoughts, Moe could have noticed its exaggerations and distortions, such as “having” to get to the meeting on time and his “whole” day being shot if he is late (this is allor-nothing thinking); he also could have considered other possibilities, such as calling his assistant and asking her to postpone the meeting for 10 minutes. Moreover, Moe does not really know what his colleagues are thinking or will think, and sets up his assistant for groundless blame.
Through rewriting, Moe can stop the train of negative thoughts; he can admit there is nothing he can do about the traffic, realize that he does not know what his colleagues think, and acknowledge that his assistant will help him when he asks for help.
4. Take Action
When you take action under time pressure, it is critical to prioritize without perfectionism.
First, remind yourself that it is a waste of time to rehash the past and worry about the future; then use mindfulness to focus on the present. Focusing on the present will help relieve feelings of time pressure.
If you must think about the past and plan for the future, plan in the present and remember with full awareness. Sit down and mindfully construct the plan; do not let your thoughts take off on planning activities. Getting the thoughts on paper will allow you to set them aside. Similarly, if you are bombarded with thoughts of the past, write down how those thoughts apply to the current situation and decide if they can contribute to your plans.
Next, see if rewriting helped you separate the emotion from the problem at hand. For example, Moe may have discovered these concrete problems: the possibility that he would be late for the meeting, his lack of a good email-screening device, and the need to finish a report while finding time for lunch. All of Moe’s other thoughts and actions were masking solutions to the problems.
Now, find possible solutions for the problem. In general, when you are under time pressure, the main problem is not having enough time. One solution is to eliminate as many demands on your time as possible. To do this, try the following:
• Making a to-do list
• Screening phone calls and emails
• Scheduling work breaks
Making a To-Do List
The best approach is to make your list when you first get to work, before doing anything. There are three steps to this simple technique:
1. Focus on the big picture and list everything that must be completed today.
2. Go through the list and divide it into what you must do, should do, and want to do.
3. Review the “must” and “should” options. In reviewing, (a) reassess to see if you can eliminate a few things, and (b) consider delegating the task to someone else. Be fully aware that you are not the only employee—coworkers can contribute to a task.
If you often find yourself under time pressure, make a to-do list on a daily basis. Again, the best time for this is when you first get to work; if you wait, pressure will accumulate and make planning difficult.
As you complete your listed assignments, make sure you are doing one thing at a time and fully focusing your attention on it. If you habitually think that multitasking is the most efficient approach, remember that in the long term it can increase time pressure, lengthening the time spent on tasks and reducing work quality. It can also leave you feeling overwhelmed and thus paralyzed.
Screening Phone Calls and Emails
This is another way to eliminate demands on your time. If a call is really important, the caller will leave a message. If you are worried about offending key players on your team, check your messages at scheduled intervals and call back right away. Find out from your informationtechnology team how to filter, organize, and prioritize your email.
Scheduling Work Breaks
Create a schedule for your breaks and take them. Pushing through will not allow you to complete more in the long run. Taking a moment to recharge will allow you to complete more quality work and prevent a maladaptive physiological response. Taking short breaks can actually speed up work, resulting in more completed work and less fatigue (Grandjean, 1991).
All in all, in taking action, do not strive for perfection. Perfectionism is a waste of time. There is a difference between quality and perfection. When you find yourself obsessing about a tiny detail, go back to rewriting and question your thinking.
As we have seen in this chapter, many workers feel time pressure on a daily basis. Whenever you are under this kind of pressure, be sure to follow SBRT:
1. Stop—Do one thing at a time.
2. Breathe—Engage in deep breathing and mindfulness regularly and especially when waiting.
3. Rewrite—Change negative thoughts rather than fuel them.
4. Take action—Prioritize without perfectionism.