You can’t always control external circumstances in your life, like how much work you have to do or how many courses you need to study for in the next few days. However, you can often control how you respond to certain developments in your life. Are you feeling inundated with tasks and overwhelmed by stress? If so, here are a few tips for keeping calm under pressure that you can leverage to make life just a bit easier for you.
Place a greater emphasis on your mental health moving forward.
If you’re someone who’s always on the go and never stops to breathe and pay attention to how you feel, it’s only a matter of time before you reach a breaking point. Those who are resilient and know how to manage and navigate stressful situations are those who pay close attention to their mental health. But where do you begin? One great way to begin is by attending a top mental health retreat. Whether you’re just reeling from the hustle and bustle of daily life or you need support for mental health disorders like PTSD, anxiety, and depression, a mental health retreat connects you with high-quality mental health resources so you can heal. With the support of a mental health professional and some much-needed time away from life to heal from stress and trauma, you can deal with pressure and cope with life much more effectively.
Look for ways to reduce or eliminate your stressors.
For many, life is a juggling act. You may have trouble staying calm because you feel like you may explode or break down if you have any more on your plate. One way to respond so that you can keep up with everything is to look for ways to reduce your stressors. For example, let’s imagine that you’re pursuing a degree in finance but are having trouble balancing your degree program, work, and life. One way to respond is to take things at your own pace by pursuing self-study CPE courses. For the aspiring CPA, self-study courses that offer CPE credit can help you take control of your professional education and make everything more manageable. When pressure enters your life, respond by finding ways to reduce it.
Take some time to remind yourself the world isn’t ending.
Extreme work, school, and life pressure can make you feel like the world is ending. If this is how you feel, turn to exercises that help you calm down and ground yourself when you feel like you’re spinning out of control. One exercise that people swear by is mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness meditation can help you focus on your breath, let disastrous thoughts pass by, and remind you that you’re going to be okay. Once you know how to meditate, you can do it anywhere and anytime you need it most.
Make your tasks seem more manageable by breaking them down.
Pressure adds stress, and stress can make it seem like some of the tasks you need to take care of are insurmountable. The solution? You can make tasks easier to manage by breaking them down into bite-sized pieces and milestones. If you’re someone who’s more visual and needs a way to organize all your tasks, there are plenty of great free project management apps out there that can make it easy to stay on top of your professional and personal tasks. If you want to stay calm under pressure, learning how to better organize your time and your tasks can help tremendously.
Pressure is something that you can’t avoid, but you can learn how to deal with it. Whenever you feel like you can’t handle your life, use the tips above to get organized, get grounded, and move forward more successfully and calmly.