Stress: The Bad and the Good

One of the most common questions a job interviewer asks is: How do you handle stress? OR How well do you handle stress? OR both. These, by far, are my favourite interview questions because they allow me to be creative with my answers. If you would like to get some tips from my cheat sheet, keep on reading!

 

**Please keep in mind that because we are talking about stress in a professional setting, this post is not to be generalized to accommodate life's daily affairs outside of such setting.

Stress, for me, is divided into two types: the GOOD and the BAD. Let's start with the bad.

The "bad" or "negative" stress is the kind that makes you feel bogged down and frustrated. This type of stress is typically exacerbated by impending deadlines, learning pressures, expectations, etc. I'd suppose this also applies to those who are still in school. You are given so much on your plate, yet so little time to finish everything.

HOWEVER,

It's all about your P E R S P E C T I V E. When we take a more positive approach when addressing stress, believe it or not, we can turn 'bad' stress into the good kind - the kind that provides beneficial advantage for us. Let me elaborate.

The "good" stress keeps us on track and focused on each given task, which results in our successfully meeting (punching) those deadlines effectively, learning new things efficiently, and most possibly even surpassing those massive expectations excellently (provided you don't take more than your allocated portion, of course).

Now, handling stress may not be that big of an issue to some people. Be that as it may, handling stress well may be a little more challenging. The simplest tip I can give you on this is one of my mottos: "Handle stress with grace."

From my ever-so-minuscule work experience, having a calmed mind is the best way to tackle stress. By calming your mind, you will be able to concentrate and have utmost focus when doing each task. When faced with a challenge, don't panic. Simply breathe, focus, and tell yourself you can get through it.

Writing things down in an agenda is also a good way to manage stress. Not only does this method keep you neat and organized, it also helps you in keeping track of your assignments, should there be more things added to your existing list. When your work is organized, your work ethic becomes organized in turn, and so does your mind! An organized mind means, at least to me, less stress!!

 

In my [humble] opinion, scatter and stress do NOT go together. No matter how exceptional your memory capacity, when there is a myriad of things thrown in your way simultaneously, the last thing you want to do is scouring through that part of your brain figuring out what to do next. With that said, you would want to make use of a work aid - such as an agenda/planner/organizer; or a 'gadget', if you are tech savvy.

How do you turn Stressed into Desserts? I guarantee you, if you perform your best and regard stress with a positive attitude, you will achieve the best results. When you have performed and achieved your best, you will then have justification for rewarding yourself with some goodies (read: desserts).

There's my take on how to manage stress. If you have any thoughts, questions, or concerns you'd like to share, or if you would like to add to these tips, feel free to voice your words in the comment box below this post.

Remember, handle stress with grace.

Hazel xox