Stress and the Sweet Spot
Big game temperament
You probably thought at the end of last year, “c’mon holidays, I need to recharge my batteries”.
Now at the beginning of a new year, you are raring to go!
Long term stress gets to us. Similarly, short term stress. Resolving long term stress requires a holistic approach, perhaps with the assistance of a life or a business coach, or at the very least, a sounding board.
Short term stress symptoms can be dealt with more swiftly.
Big game temperament in the work environment typically relates to the urban jungle, and has nothing to do with spotting lions and leopards early in the morning. We all play the game at different levels, and so big game temperament is at a different level for each of us. By identifying what our optimum operating level is, we can challenge ourselves and get better, faster, stronger.
Stress and the sweet spot
Have you found that you drive to work or home and suddenly realise that you are there? Your stress level is so low that you are distracted. Conversely, you need to get to a meeting in a hurry, and are panicking because you didn’t print out the directions, your GPS battery is flat, and your stress gauge is in the red; you are suffering from deep stress.
You are focused, reading the street names as you pass them, parking change is ready for the attendant, you park, memorise the names of the meeting attendees, don’t have to go back to check that you did lock the car, and visualise your opening lines as you travel up the lift. You are in the zone, called eustress. Your awareness is peaked. You have found your big game sweet spot.
You can develop that level of optimum stress, and up your game. You can also put systems in place to get you in the zone more often.
Systems
Urgent tasks can be the enemy of important tasks, as we instinctively respond to them. We respond to SMS’s and telephone calls immediately and get stressed, as positive and negative emotions start to rush at us. A more disciplined approach allows us to focus on those tasks that are more to our benefit than others.
Looking at the four quadrants of the graph below, consider:
Quadrant 1: Important, Urgent. This is fire fighting or crisis management and you should attempt to get out of quadrant 1 and in to quadrant 2 (see below for more)
Quadrant 2: Important, Not urgent. Here, you have time to plan and execute what is important.
Quadrant 3: Not important, Urgent. If possible, you should be delegating these tasks so that you can provide maximum value to quadrant 2 activities.
Quadrant 4: Not important, Not urgent. You should not be doing these tasks. Think about it, they are not important, and not urgent!
How to get from Quadrant 1 to Quadrant 2
Everything is Urgent and Important. How do I deal with it? Draw up a list of tasks, mark each one high, med , low, based on importance, and similarly based on urgency. Multiply the two values and see what is most important. Example (H x H or 3 x 3 =9, M x H or 2 x 3=6).
If they are all H x H, use the doughnut approach. Make a hole in the middle and start working on one. Finish one task at a time.
Importantly, congratulate yourself when you have completed each task.
Marius van Niekerk is an Executive coach, focusing on personal performance. He can be contacted at Marius@avestan.co.za or +27 76 730 3144