Performance Under Pressure - Effective Human Interactions: Managing Reactions to Pressure

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In order to perform effectively with others who are under pressure in the workplace, you must manage your own reactions to pressure. If you don't manage your reactions to pressure well, you may fall into a trap of negative interactions with others. For example, in a stressful situation, you may become irritable, tactless, or uncooperative toward colleagues.
Manage Stressful Situations
In order to manage pressurized situations, you must first identify what you can control and what you can't control. What you can control is yourself and your own reactions, and what you can't control is other peoples' reactions. But in order to be in control of your reactions you need to avoid being overwhelmed by emotion. Aim to be rational and in control of your responses to pressure.
You may have noted that the first thing you need to do is recognize when you're stressed. This is the first step in managing your reactions in a high-pressure situation. Unless you can spot the signs of stress in yourself, you can't begin to take control. It's important to examine the emotion associated with your reaction to uncover its true source. Finally, you must act to take control of your emotions, and modify your behavior accordingly.
Recognize Stress
Recognizing when you're stressed can be challenging because everyone is unique, so your stress responses will likely be different from those of your work colleagues. Furthermore, it's sometimes harder to self-reflect and recognize our own stress responses.
There are many ways that people react under pressure. For example, some people will react with anger, frustration, or fear. The signs of stress may be explicit, such as a verbal outburst. Or they may be implicit, such as impatience, restlessness, or even illness.
Other people may react by becoming quiet, withdrawn, or even overly agreeable.
Stress Clues
There are clues that can help you recognize that you're under stress. Physical symptoms include fatigue, an increased heart rate, high blood pressure, and feeling hot and clammy. Breathing can become short and labored. Many people flush easily, whereas others become pale.
Psychological and emotional symptoms include distorted thoughts, panic, impatience, and distress. Such symptoms will inevitably impair your ability to be rational and objective. This can therefore compromise your ability to handle complex tasks.
Consider Regina, she's been working late most evenings on a project. Frequently she comes home tired and becomes impatient with her family. Friends often tell her she looks stressed. She often feels inadequate about her performance, and insecure in her job.
Regina decides to keep a journal to determine what's causing her to feel stressed. For a period of two weeks, she takes ten minutes at the end of each day to record her thoughts. (...)
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