Fast Company | Business + Innovation: Say you’re a high performer who's risen through the ranks. Now you have even bigger responsibilities. Or you're working your way toward a promotion and need to show your skills and professionalism in the best light. Then the phone call comes. The results of your medical tests weren't good. Or you suddenly have to take care of a loved one in an emergency. Or there's an unexpected financial hit that could spell catastrophe.
17 comments:
I think everyone needs to read this article now. Today is Monday and tomorrow is election day, and I know that is causing so much stress for many of my friends and just around the school in general. This article really is good at pointing out how to cope with situations that cause major stress in an already stressful life. To be completely honest, I have not been too stressed about the election, I did what I could, and now I need to focus on what I can control. I have also recently gotten the feeling that my positive attitude is taken as not caring, which is the opposite. I understand whats happening, but I am choosing to do what I can and to find the bright side in what I cannot control. This article kind of reaffirmed that I am doing the right thing for myself looking at situations this way. I think the one thing that I need to work on the most is sharing selectively, often I find myself not sharing any reasons my I'm anxious and stressed, or I go to the opposite extreme and make my issues everyone else's issues. I think their definitely is a healthy balance and finding it with your boss like the article says is not nearly as easy as it can be with finding the balance with your close friends.
Though this article focuses in on when crisis hits, I feel that much of the advice offered in the piece extends to way beyond crisis scenarios. Knowing how to organize your life is an important piece of the puzzle everyone must figure out for themselves. I think many of the students here at CMU, including myself, would fall into the "over achiever" category mentioned in the article. There are pros and cons to being an over achiever. One major con is stress. Here at school, though I usually don't feel I am in crisis, I do feel stressed. I admit, I am a perfectionist. Learning to let go of the little things, or allow for help from others is something I feel that we could all benefit from. Although letting go of control, especially something artistic is much harder in practice than in theory. Because art, in any form, is so personal and can say so much about the person that produced it letting go can be a tricky scenario. In the profession, I understand that even when you let go, you have some control. You most likely hired the people of which you would be passing the work onto. But here in school it's different. These are your peers, there are grades, and you are forming a representation and an aesthetic. So learning to let go is letting go of a lot more than just a task that forms a bigger overall project.
Unlike in the profession, more often than not, you are not attending class, and working on the same production, and living together. So it truly is a choice of what you choose to tell your co-workers or collaborators. In school I find privacy a little more challenging.
Overall, I found the article to be helpful, and good food for thought.
I felt that this article shed some light on a very important topic. We often learn about good time management, for example in Molly's class right now. However, there are certain situations where your planning and scheduling flies out the window. I think that was the best part about this article was the thourough discussion that horrible, life-destructive events occur, but sadly we still do have to keep moving. One of my biggest concerns about moving to college is what would happen if something happened to my family; life does not seem to just open up for a a week, not to mention the weeks of emotional distress involved with traumatic events. I think the key points addressed this topic very well, such as saying to lower your to do list, accept okay rather than perfect, and accept help. The one thing I virgorously disagree with, and it may be because we are in a creative environment, is that the author wrote not to share what is going on too much because your coworkers aren't always your support. Maybe I'm an optimist, but I think here at CMU in a crisis I could count on anyone in School of Drama. I think explaining your situation allows for assistance from others and dispell rumors.
One of the biggest and most valuable lessons college has taught me is that it is not smart or healthy to try and give 100% of yourself to every project all of the time. When you have a busy work life, forcing yourself to do “good enough” on some projects so that you can do your best on others is not something people do because they didn’t care enough or they weren’t good enough. It is the best choice for taking care of yourself, maintaining a work-life balance, and not getting overwhelmed by your responsibilities. It took a long time for me to learn that, and to learn that making myself a priority was okay. But I had to because unfortunately my brain’s natural way of dealing with a lot of stress is just to shut down. I have been known to take “stress naps” which is where you’re so overwhelmed that you fall asleep instead of doing anything productive and then when you wake up you’re even more stressed out because you have the same amount of work and just a shorter amount of time to do it. This is not a good way of coping with stress. It is far better to pace your work, accept less than perfect if that’s not going to affect anyone adversely, and remember that taking breaks and doing things for your own mental health should always be a priority.
One of the best points this article brought up is that you need to ask others for help when a crisis hits. I know my first instinct when something in my life goes wrong or when I'm only more stressed than usual is to shut up and isolate myself so I can try to quietly solve the problem or so I don't come across as pitiful or weak. But I would never want a friend of mine to close themselves off in times of need. This article highlights this need to differentiate being strong, trying to solve your own problems, and being courageous, which entails knowing when and how to ask for help. Hopefully these decisions don't need to be made on a day to day basis. This article also mentioned the book by the submarine captain on applying his training to everyday stress which reminded me of The Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth which we read in PTM. I was skeptical when Kevin said that book was 100 percent relatable to working in theatre, but after I read it I understood how similar the problem solving mindsets were.
I think that this article is extremely important to us as students. I say this because while we are in school we are basically working two full time jobs. The first being our classwork, and the second be that of our production assignments. Each by itself is not all that stressful, but at the same time there is extremely high potential to become stressed out. It then becomes a challenge to manage this while managing all of the things that happen on any given day. The best way that I have found to be productive while I am stressed out is to actually let it empower me to work harder. I have seen plenty of people let their work load get the better of them, and I have promised myself that I will not let that happen to me. That is how I manage my productivity during stressful times.
While I appreciate the sentiment of this article, I will say it can be incredibly challenging to give advice on how people should attempt to reduce their stress in a high stress, curveball situation. I refuse to accept the fact that you have to operate like a captain of a submarine to be able to handle extreme stress. I think it can be okay to attempt to suggest some methods for dealing with these moments of high stress, but I also think everyone ends up having very personal strategies for coping with stress. I feel like I can agree with some of the strategies here though, and I think it can be a very good reminder to think about the types of things that you absolutely must take care of and also think about the things that you can cut back on or push to a later time or date.
Before I even read this article, my friend Claire said, "I have a great way of dealing with stress. Stay ahead of your work and don't get stressed in the first place." Jake also mentions this since the article speaks a lot about serious, detrimental moments but not more casual, hard work in college sort of scenarios. On the other hand, when crisis does hit, I'm sure this advice is A+ since it talks about important tips like breathing and doing things that help you regain control in your world. Maintaining a sense of yourself and a sense of control is crucial since your problem solving skills and emotion regulation are negatively affected when you're stressed. And although this article speaks a lot about negative moments in your world that can cause stress, Annie brings up a good point because things like the election and going up for an award, etc. can cause anxiety and stress as well. As DPs and drama kids in general, we have an insane amount of course work constantly for 4 years and I think all of us have something to take out of this article.
I’ve never been a very organized person. I tend to flit from one problem to another solving them to the best of my ability and then moving on. I think the ability to recognize the point of diminishing returns has been the most helpful ability in reducing stress recently. Simply realizing that I could spend four more hours to go from 95% complete to 99% or I could go from 60% to 85% on another project. That’s the crazy thing about art is that nothing is ever really done. You just run out of time. So it’s incredibly important to realize where an acceptable level of completion is and when you can start work on the next task. In this way even though I don’t plan out everything I’m generally able to get it all complete to an acceptable level without really worrying that I’ll fail to complete any one task.
This article had pretty obvious tips to extreme circumstances that are not that helpful to typical stress. I was hoping this article would talk about what to do when you are under a lot of stress from a lot of work and not as much if something horrible happens to you. Of course if something really bad happens in your life it is a good idea to take time off and relax a little. Working through stress and a tough situation may work for some people, but at a certain point they will crack. It is important to let people know what you are going through if it will affect them or their opinions of your work. They might just assume you are doing a bad job and not know that you are dealing with a larger issue that is affecting your work. Of course you should not tell the whole world about your issues because that will not help the situation.
I really enjoyed this article! It had a lot of very practical advice on dealing with stress and moving forward in times of crisis. It makes me think back to my freshman year here at Carnegie Mellon-- I had such a freakin' stressful time last year! I was on a full DP course load, doing Playground pieces, designing and constructing a Lunar Gala fashion line, freelance illustrating, dealing with health problems and doubling up on electives! It was such a bad decision to overload the way that I did and looking back on it is really helpful. I don't regret any of the stress that I put myself through last year because I now know my limits. And I hit my limits last year. I was burnt out and not motivated at all by the time freshman year came to an end! I spiraled down into a stress hole and I am SO grateful that I am now smarter! You want to take on as much as you can and show the world that you can do everything, but I've realized that it's not necessary if it comes at the cost of your health. Humans are not meant to live under such constant stress. It will literally destroy you. I wish I could have read this article a year in advance and had better coping strategies, but like I said I definitely know better now.
This is an article I really needed to read at this point in time. Especially this past week, in which I, and many other students and people in this country, have been exposed to a source of stress that was not previously there. I definitely think that the tips that the article offers are really helpful, and are really nice to be reminded of. I hope that in the next couple of weeks, we all will be able to take into consideration the words in this article as we start to get back into our everyday work. It is ok to slow down and take a step back from your work.It is ok to prioritize other things over school work if it is good for your health and sanity. I also think that someone going through a lot of stress in their lives should reflect on it and force themselves to confront the issue, especially with other people that they trust and know are going through a similar thing.
I like what this article has to say about accepting "good enough." I struggle with this, as I often worry that I become complacent in my work when time is short and stakes are high. However, I think there is something to be said of accepting good enough "for now." To me what that means is, "right now this is the time I have, and this is what I can do with it. Therefore, I need to get what I can done and move onto the next thing so that I can have time later to come back and improve instead of still being stuck on a different project." To me, this almost seems like a more productive option than going for perfect every time - this way, I can do the work, step away, and then come back to it and see it in a whole new light with which to make it even better. I can see what I did not before, and use that to strive for my best work. Maybe I turn it in as "good enough" and get the grade I get and accept that - but once the grade is in the work is all my own. Failure is no longer a matter of grade - it's up to me. Therefore, when it comes to deadlines, "good enough" is more a jumping off point than a letting go. "Good enough" is, in fact, just the next step towards great.
This is the best article I've read on this blog about coping with project management and stress, and on a Sunday before a week of run crew and big deadlines to fill it couldn't have popped up on my screen sooner. I find it so easy to slip into busy work when I'm stressed that I don't even feel like I'm actually achieving anything. My favorite quote from the article was "sharpening your coping skills and expanding them so that you can deal with what’s being demanded of you" and I agree it really is key to not losing your mind. The first subhead identifies and issue I've struggled with my entire life. Once I know what I can control, my previously conceived load lightens immensely. I already know so many people I want to share this article with.
It sounds like all of these methods require some degree of disassociating from, or being able to step back from a problem, which is often the hardest part to addressing any problem. It is hard to tabulate, and subsequently curb one's stress responses to a new problem. Enforcing a sense of perspective upon one's self is exceedingly difficult. That said, these methods are all valuable, and seem quite legitimate. It is interesting to note how an underlying theme to all of these methods for coping emerges. That is, stress when coping with many problems can often be self inflicted. A lack of delegating, prioritizing, and a self manufactured sense needing to perform and excel individually, and alone, are key culprits. Slightly lessened versions of these coping methods should be - I believe - be implemented routinely anyways. Sharing responsibility and self-care are key components to working successfully, whether facing additional stressors or not.
I think everyone should read this article. It has a lot of useful information in it. Beyond that it gives ways of managing stress and anxiety. This was a tough lesson for me to learn, and I don’t know that I’ll ever fully get this down pat. While stress is a normal part of life, I think people who work in theater experience more than others. I should start saying the key points in this article as a mantra – identify what I can control, identify what I must do, accept good enough, slow down, share, and ask for or accept help. Asking for help can be difficult but it absolutely essential. I have never been good at it, but I’ve learned a lot over the years about this. One of the other things I have done to mitigate stress – admit what I don’t know. If I give someone an answer that turns out to be wrong, or that changes, it can reflect poorly on me. By saying I don’t know something, I think it shows a level of maturity and respect to not give false or flawed information. The key there – get the answer. Just knowing that you may be going into a stressful situation can cause stress – even if nothing has happened. And this article has some great tools to deal with it.
The first point of this article talks about choosing what you can control. In quarantine, this still causes so much anxiety because that list is so incredibly long. And now, I am only stuck with a list. At school, I was physically surrounded by people who shared a lot of my responsibilities. We all had the same lists of things we can control. Now, I am in a house with my family, and in a community with my friends who all attend different universities. We all have our own separate lists of things we can control, and mine happens to carry an isolating weight. In our studio, there was an unspoken (and spoken) unity and beat of when we would tackle our lists. Now, the ownership I have over my list makes me unique. That said, I have spent the time I should have devoted to working on my list convincing myself that it is okay if that list leads to “good enough" outcomes.
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