Business Insight Zone

How big a deal is it, really?

This somber anniversary date ought to be a good time for some reflection on what’s really important to us — and that applies just as much to what’s important in the workplace as in all the other areas of our lives.

If the job-related thing really is a super-big deal — sure, drop everything else, stay late if necessary, and handle it NOW. (But see if you can do it with a sense of aplomb.)

If it’s the usual “fire drill” type of stuff? Naah. Take deep breaths and work efficiently through it, but decline the opportunity to wig out.

Endless evidence — see the links at the bottom of this post — show that stress is bad for us. We know for a certainty that on average people make better decisions when they’re calm. I know beyond any doubt that I think better when I’m calm.

Besides, many of our crazy-making habits are of our own devising. And even the crazy-making traits of our managers, departments, and companies can be parried with better habits from us.

Give yourself the gift of these habits. For starters, when you’re feeling stressed, get some exercise, even if it just means walking a lap around the block, or up and down the stairs in your building.

When you get back to your desk, eliminate one thing — even a tiny thing — that’s causing you stress. (I suggest the Big, Bad E-mail lingering in your inbox.) Then eliminate another.

And keep in mind: if it really came down to it — if the stakes were made obvious — few of us would place our jobs above our health. But that’s exactly what we do when we stress out about work.

The short version of all this? Keep Calm and Carry On.

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Related posts:

• Stress kills.
• Stress kills, redux: the best short piece I’ve read about stress.
• Make fewer decisions to have better self-control.
• Thank you, I’m feeling fine. Why do you ask?

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(Sea photo by paveitapics; “Keep Calm” poster photo by adactio.)

Category: The working life