How to use stress to support your work

Last week over dinner a colleague asked me if I actually ever get stressed.  I’d just finished a six-day trial where the client had asked a similar question.  “You’re so Zen. Calming to be around” was the feedback.

As I smiled at the question, wondering how much to reveal, my colleague turned to my wife. “Perhaps we should ask you” they said. 

Zita replied with her kind honesty, “Does he get stressed? Oh boy. For sure he does.”

Stress is unavoidable.  Natural.  Normal.  Stress is not necessarily bad for you either. 

Research carried out at Stanford and Harvard Universities has led researchers to conclude that tens of thousands of people die prematurely not because of stress itself, but because of their belief that stress is bad.

As well-known health psychologist and Stanford University lecturer Kelly McGonigal explains, “Your heart might be pounding, you might be breathing faster, maybe breaking out into a sweat. Normally we interpret these physical changes as anxiety or signs that we aren’t coping well with the physical pressure. But what if you view them instead as signs that your body was energized, was preparing you to meet the challenge?”

The truth is that stress is not problematic, nor is it a mental health issue - if you know how to manage stress well.

So rather than trying to avoid it, fight it or pretend it’s not there, why not learn to use it to your advantage instead?

Here are three ways to reframe stress so you can use it to support your work.  I use each of them and you might find them helpful too.

Stress as the seer.

A lot of stress arises from the fear of future events that that haven’t happened yet.  The problem is that the grip of fear can sometimes prevent us addressing these perceived risks in an effective way. We turn away from them or bury them, rather than face them, and in doing so our stress increases. 

What if we see stress as the benevolent seer of risk? If we pay attention rather than look away, we can use stress as a resource to predict well in advance those issues or challenges that need attention. 

Here is a simple exercise that you can do when faced with the stress that comes during the preparation or planning phase of a work task.  Simply sit down, close your eyes, take a deep breath in, and another out, and repeat.  This will naturally calm your body, and also bring your thoughts into greater awareness.  Turn your thoughts to the task ahead – the client meeting, negotiation, litigation, whatever it may be. When anything comes up that is worrying you, write it down.  Keep going for a few minutes. You will end up with a list of things that need attention.

And there are added benefits: the release of physical tension through the use of breath, and the release of mental tension by brain dumping thoughts onto paper.  I start many tasks this way.   

Stress as the bringer of order.

We all have a tendency to avoid the thing that is causing us the most stress or anxiety.  And what happens?  The stress grows. 

What if we see stress as benevolently ordering risks by their importance?  Then we can use it as a resource to ensure that we apply our time and energy wisely, prioritizing those issues that really matter.

Rather than putting off the things that are causing you the most worry, try attending to them first instead.  In this way the stress is managed and dissipated early, so it doesn’t infect the rest of the task or your wider responsibilities. Importantly, attending to something may mean no more than making a start on it, rather than finishing it.  By getting to grips with a challenge just enough to reassure yourself that it will be OK, you can start to relax.   

Stress as the motivator.

All of us need carrots and sticks from time to time.  Stress often works as the stick: keeping us going and helping us perform despite it all.  But it can also act as a carrot: calling us forward with a sense of reward and purpose.  

What if we see stress as a benevolent motivator, expressing our excitement, passion and service? Then we can use it as a positive and healthy resource aligned with our work, rather than opposed to it. 

Try setting your feelings of stress within the context of the pleasurable rewards you stand to gain from your work, the financial, personal, and reputational gains that all motivate us; the sense of satisfaction at client service performed well.  The line between stress and excitement is often imperceptible, but the difference in perspective is huge.

The stress response is a highly evolved trait that would not exist unless it can serve us well. So next time you feel stressed, try calling your stress into service.  Ask what it is showing you.  Respect its wisdom. Use it to your advantage.  Before long, maybe you’ll start to appear Zen too….

PS: if you are a barrister or bar student interested in these issues, come to our “Building and Sustaining Resilience at the Bar” workshop in July. Details here.