work stress – Emily Downward

Work Success Secret #3: Shift Your Focus

July 24, 2012emilydownward

This is the third in a series of posts designed to provide you with tips to be more successful at work, despite the increasing demands that are occurring across industries and across job titles. In the first post, I talked about creating, setting and communicating boundaries (Set Your Hard Limits). I covered how I learned this the hard way, and realistic, small ways to begin to enforce your own limits. The second post talked about shifting your physical state out of fight-or-flight mode to access your creative mind (Nourish Your Creativity). I provided a couple of easy ways to calm and center yourself. This third post is all about your focus.

Through my life coach training and in my continuing studies, I’ve been fascinated to learn more about how the brain works. Our brain is constantly adapting to our environment, our responses and our thoughts. When we think a thought, our brain likes to prove itself right, so it looks for evidence to back up this thought. So whether we think “I work with a bunch of idiots” or “I work with some really great people,” your brain will be focused on finding evidence to prove either one. (Which thought do you think is going to make you enjoy your work more? You get to choose. And before you go defending yourself with “But Emily, I really DO work with a bunch of idiots!” notice my second thought said SOME great people.)

Thoughts that we think over and over again become beliefs. These are created over time, influenced by our families, our upbringing and our communities. Some of your beliefs may be more conscious than others, but regardless of whether you are conscious of them or not, they shape the patterns of your thoughts, and therefore, what you experience.

Right now, take a minute and jot down the first three words that come to your mind when you think about Work.

Surprising? I was blown away to discover some of my own undercover beliefs about work. The connections in my mind were not at all positive. (If you didn’t write down your own beliefs about Work, do it now. Just write the first things that pop into your head.)

If the beliefs you hold about Work do not match what you want for yourself (and mine sure didn’t!), try this: write what you’d like to experience and try to find evidence for it in your current job. For example, perhaps you want to experience fun at work.

Now your brain is used to its existing patterns. You’ve built up strong neural connections between work and the beliefs you wrote down, compiling evidence to support those beliefs for years. It’s completely natural for you to have resistance to this, but you can create new neural pathways, new ways of thinking. It’s like a brain teaser, so play with this idea for a minute.

If you consider “Work is fun,” try and come up with at least 3 pieces of evidence how this could be true. Perhaps it’s fun when you get to collaborate with certain people, or it’s fun when you finish a big project. The more evidence you find, the more this new idea will get cemented in your brain.

If you go into a situation looking for trouble, you’re bound to find it. But if you go looking to be amazed, it’s amazing what you’ll find.

Work Success Secret #2: Nourish Your Creativity

July 17, 2012emilydownward

Have you been feeling increased pressure at work? One of the effects of the economic downturn has been for companies to create leaner teams, so if it feels like there are less people to do the same or more work, you’re not alone. In addition, we have amazing technology which allows us to be connected 24/7. Great in so many ways, especially in an emergency or if you get lost, but it doesn’t allow for much, if any, down time. Western society is so busy, and there’s a constant pressure to do more, more, more! It’s exhausting, and it takes a toll on your body. It also takes a toll on your ability to be creative. This is the second of three posts of what you can do for yourself in this situation.

Our bodies are designed to respond to times of stress by shifting our hormones, getting us prepared for fight-or-flight. It was very helpful when we were in caveman and cavewoman days. When a saber-toothed tiger showed up, we could leverage the burst of energy from our body’s response to escape. Some of the physical changes that occur include taking blood flow away from digestion to the muscles in your arms and legs, increased heart rate and respiration. The brain also shifts function from the outermost layer, the cerebral cortex, to the inner, more instinctual parts. When the danger had passed, we would breathe a sigh of relief – a physical way to tell your body the time for fight-or-flight is over, and your body could release the stress hormones and go back to calm.

Although the dangers in our lives have changed, our bodies still react the same way. I frequently talk to clients who experience stress at work and describe a sense of panic. I can hear over the phone their breathing is shallow and fast, and many people notice their heart beating quickly. The “tigers” today are constantly ringing phones, over-booked calendars and schedules, and never-ending email. (I remember when I was in the corporate world my set-point for email was to try and keep it under 100 or less unread. Most of the emails I received needed a response from me, and the incoming volume was more than I could keep up with. 100 was significant, but I really noticed my stress levels skyrocketing when it got above that.) The New York Times recently covered the issue of the insane amount of emails that are sent and received and noted how it is a major cause of stress.

Unfortunately, this fight-or-flight state of being shifts you out of your creative mind and makes you less productive. The brain is focused on survival and can’t make the connections and associations that create new ideas. And our work is not just demanding that we do more, more, more, they also want you to be brilliantly creative and conceptualize the next big thing. Or in fields like medicine and science, the creative brain is key to solving puzzles and treating patients with unique combinations of symptoms or conditions.

The simplest and quickest way to shift your body and brain out of the fight-or-flight mode is through breathing. Our breathing is the one thing that can be either automatically controlled, such as during sleep or fight-or-flight, or controlled by our conscious decision. By taking a few minutes to focus on your breathing, consciously drawing in a deeper breath and releasing it more slowly, your body will realize you are safe and you will be able to access your amazingly creative side. An easy way to do this is to breathe in to a count of 5 and breathe out to a count of 5. Do at least 3 inhalation and exhalation cycles.

I would suggest adding “Breathe” reminders to your calendar or phone. While this may seem ridiculous – who forgets to breathe??? – taking a short time-out several times a day can have amazing benefits to your physical and mental processes. If you want to take it to the next level, take 15 minutes to do a brief meditation or take a short walk outside. (I call these my non-smoking breaks.) While this doesn’t change the stressors in your work life, it can change your perception of them and therefore reduce your stress level. And your creativity should get a boost as well.

Work Success Secret #1: Set Your Hard Limits

July 10, 2012emilydownward

I’ve been talking to a lot of people lately about the increasing demands at work. It’s happening across industries: more work for fewer people, and increasing levels of stress across the board. People are feeling exhausted, overwhelmed and overworked. I think companies are going to have to make a change in the way business is done, taking care of their people as their greatest asset, but this is the first post in a three-part series of what YOU can do as the employee.

For many years, I worked in the agency world: internet, marketing, public relations. There was always more work than people and time to do it, and an incredible number of emails, meetings and client demands. After one particularly devastating break-up, I threw myself into work to fill up the time that had been previously spent with my boyfriend and our mutual friends, spending extra hours at work as a distraction and a balm to my newly empty evenings. It worked…for awhile. But I began to feel burned-out, needing the balance of work and not-work. Unfortunately, I had done extra work for long enough that people were used to it. While some of my coworkers had to leave the office at a specific time to pick up kids from daycare or go to exercise classes, I became known as the one who could stay late. I was the go-to person for extra work, especially crunch-time work. Extricating myself from this was tricky, but I knew it was up to me. I had gotten myself into it, and I was determined to get myself out! I realized by watching my coworkers, and how the company responded to them, that I could set the boundaries on my time. So even though I couldn’t suddenly have kids to pick up from daycare, I began saying “I have a class tonight at 7:00. I have to leave here by 6:30.” Whether I had a class or not, I was making the commitment to myself, to my life outside of work.

I truly believe we are given lessons in life, and if you don’t get it the first time, life gives you multiple opportunities to learn the same lesson again. Setting boundaries is one of those lessons I’ve had to practice several times before getting it, and it’s a constant one. You may go through times where you establish your boundaries well and have them respected, and other times where you give a little here and there for a period of time (like during a particular project or new business effort), and then you must re-establish your boundaries again.

As a single person, I saw that my colleagues with children knew they had to do this. Daycare closes at a certain time. Other colleagues who commuted knew they had to leave to get a particular train. But it’s important for everyone to know and set your own limits, boundaries for your time.

If you’re thinking, “Emily doesn’t understand. We’ve had layoffs, and I’m fortunate enough to still have a job. I have to do whatever they ask to show I’m a hard-worker. I have to keep this job!” While I don’t know the particulars of your specific workplace, I can tell you that you can’t keep waiting for the company to change. As Gandhi said, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” Start small: instead of eating at your desk, take lunch outside of the office one day a week. Leave the office a little earlier than you usually do one day a week. (I’m guessing you’re working a great deal more than 40 hours/week, and I’m not suggesting you try to cut below 40, but how about 55 instead of 60?)

In my experience, the company will take as much as you’re willing to give. The company will not tell you, “You shouldn’t work so hard. You should take off early and go spend some time outside.” But YOU know what you need, and it’s up to YOU to communicate your limits.