Stress at work: How to stop being overwhelmed at work

Work intensification
When the stress just gets too much, stop feeling overwhelmed at work

On a few days it collapses: a project has to be finished much earlier, there are also unscheduled special tasks, three positions have still not been filled – and half of the department is in bed with the flu. And their tasks must also be taken over. In short: you simply feel overwhelmed with the mountain of work. And instead of being able to concentrate on individual tasks, you are completely unproductive. And do everything just a little.

Compensating work through fewer employees and additional projects increases the workload of the individual – this can even make you sick. On the other hand, we all need a certain amount of pressure – or stress – to get going at all. But where is the point at which the pressure brings us to high performance? And when is it just too much? A theory from 1908 tries to approach this point: The Yerkes-Dodson curve relates effectiveness or productivity to one’s own state of tension or excitement. Those who are under-challenged fall short of their possibilities. As the stress level rises, so does productivity. Until it rises above a certain point and then sinks again. The special thing about this curve: It runs differently for everyone. Some people just need a low level of stress to feel overwhelmed. For others, the pace can be significantly higher – and they are productive and happy because they almost need stress to function.

So it’s about finding the exact point for yourself: where is my peak in the Yerkes-Dodson curve? Art Markman explains one possibility, Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas, at Fast Company: Make a list of your everyday tasks and rate them with a stress factor between 1 and 10. After a few weeks you will have a pretty clear picture of when you will were particularly productive and which tasks caused stress – and why. The psychologist emphasizes that stress also brings with it energy that must now be diverted into the completion of the tasks.

How to work successfully in stressful situations

Recommended as a first step Art Markman to calm down urgently, if the stress collapses over you again. With constant stress, you would have great difficulty doing anything at all if you did not reduce the load. According to Markman, relaxation exercises can help: breathing deeply, counting breaths, and focusing on something other than work.

But not everyone comes down this way. A walk can also help to shake off the stress for a moment. Fitness exercises are good too. His advice: The “temporary separation from your work area” can help to focus.

The next step is to sort the workload. Often times, it helps to start with a task that you are good at and do well. Time-consuming projects that cannot be removed from the list are slipping back.

When you start to work, you push annoying ballast aside. Close the e-mail box, Messenger will be switched off. Focus on the task, everything else will be hidden. Another piece of advice from Markman: Try to concentrate fully on the task at least for five to ten minutes. Divide the tasks into smaller sub-goals in your mind. And so you crawl through the task. According to the expert, motivation will increase with every partial goal achieved.

If you notice that the work demands are simply too high, speak to your manager. Because it’s not just about you getting a job done – it’s how you do it. Perhaps a project needs to be particularly careful. Another may be less about quality – you can get those tasks done in less time and the result is still fair.

Talking to the boss has another plus point: you can explain how much time you need for tasks. Most of the time, the manager is not very clear. Perhaps it is also possible for another employee to take over? Anyone who has personal responsibility themselves will have to delegate tasks. Even if the team member does the task differently or maybe even worse. You can readjust with brief feedback.

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