Everyone Remain Calm

How to keep your cool under pressure

Remaining calm under pressure is a difficult thing to do. Our human mind is programmed to activate certain responses in high pressure situations to keep us safe. One that is commonly spoken of is our “fight or flight response.” This is a natural instinct within our minds that causes a rush of hormones, specifically adrenaline, that excites our nervous system and put us in a state of panic. Now this response is not an inherently bad thing, in many cases it keeps us safe and helps us handle situations that could severely hurt us. However, there are cases where it will activate when it just doesn’t need to. Specifically high pressure situations in which your brain feels any kind of threat. The main issue here is that this response often puts you in a state of panic, and you quickly lose your cool. In a work environment this can be detrimental to your job. The rush of adrenaline and other endorphins through your blood can make you volatile, causing you to snap unexpectedly or even cause fits of rage, and unfortunately, responses like this can get you suspended or even terminated.

If you’ve ever experienced a response like this, whether it be in your job, your home life, or your relationships. You probably understand the negative effects it can have on one’s life. However, this isn’t something that you have to let control you. There are a couple ways you can combat this rush and similar panic responses to help you maintain a calm and cool demeanor. Today I’d like to talk about my two favorite techniques I use for keeping my cool and remaining calm in the most high pressure situations. Hopefully these can be of use to those of you reading this, as they have been very useful to me throughout my life.

Tip 1 - Breathing Exercises 

While this may sound cheesy or cliché, they actually have a powerful effect. There’s two that I very frequently use. Each of these can be used in different situations which I will explain as I go. It’s important to remember that you may find that making small tweaks will improve the effect it has on you. You can personalize each of these to fit your own needs, as long as you keep the basic foundation 

Method 1 - Timed Breathing

This one is best used in situations where you feel overwhelmed or panicked. If you’re someone who struggles with anxiety issues this can be very helpful during a panic attack. 

Begin by focusing yourself on your lungs. Close your eyes and imagine them as balloons. Breathe in slowly and consistently for 6 seconds, as you do this imagine those balloons slowly inflating for the duration of your breath until they can hold any more air. Next hold your breath for 4 seconds and imagine the balloon struggling to hold the air in. Now exhale, again maintaining a solid pace for 7 seconds. Visualize the balloon deflating until there is absolutely no air left. Finally hold your breath for another 4 seconds with your lungs completely empty, imagining that balloon trying to suck in air. Repeat this process 3-4 times without breaking the cycle and watch as you suddenly become very calm. This technique slows your heart rate to a resting BPM and helps balance your adrenal gland inside your brain. Like I said before, this process can be tailored to fit you personally. For me I prefer 7 seconds in, 5 second holds, and 8 seconds out. Work to find what time frame works best for you.

Method 2 - Visualized breathing

This method is most effective during moments of emotional take-over such as extreme fear, pain, or anger. I have found that you need a pretty strong imagination for this one, but your imagination will improve the more you practice this technique.

Start my closing your eyes and take a moment to clear your mind, try not to think about anything and just let your thoughts float away. Once you find yourself in the right mindset, begin breathing just as you regularly would. Imagine a huge cloud of white smoke in front of you in a dark room. Everytime you breathe in, imagine you’re inhaling a big puff of that white smoke. While your lungs are filled, imagine releasing your anger, fear, pain, or whatever else into your lungs. Then as you breathe out, visualize a cloud of black smoke being released from your mouth. This smoke contains all of that bad energy and emotions. As it leaves your mouth it dissipates into the atmosphere. Just like the last technique I’ve found that you can tailor this to your own needs. Whether you want to imagine different colored smoke, or maybe something different; Just make sure you maintain the main idea behind the exercise.

Tip 2 - Distraction Mechanisms

This method is mostly up to the interpretation of the user. Everyone has different techniques that work for them that may not work for others. This method involves finding a simple action that calms you down, preferably something you can do with your hands or feet alone that doesn’t require an external tool. A very common method is tapping a simple rhythm against your leg. The idea behind this is that you put your focus into whatever you’re doing and you slowly forget about what has you stressing. 

This method doesn’t require a large explanation like the breathing techniques do because this one is mostly created by the user. You have to first decide what you’ll use as your distraction, whether it be a rhythmic tapping or maybe moving your foot back and forth in a simple motion; You have to find what works best for you specifically. Try to avoid things like biting nails or picking at anything as those can become habits that cause more harm than good. It’s also a good idea to keep your technique low-key, that was it can be done in any environment or situation without bringing too much attention to yourself. Whatever you decide to do, just make sure that it helps calm you down and bring back your focus.

If implemented properly, these methods can create a foolproof way to remain calm and cool under pressure and improve your focus in stressful environments. Whether you decide to use one of the techniques I described, or come up with your own, I recommend this to anyone who frequently deals with those fight or flight like responses in their day to day life.

-Braden Schmidt 11-13-2019