Perseverance & Focus When Work is Hectic

As I teach college students, I notice that some cope with adversity with a steady hand, demonstrating calm and resilience.  They ask for help when needed, but they don't make excuses.  They push through difficult situations.  Others become overwhelmed when something goes wrong in one facet of their life, and they allow those challenges to disrupt other aspects of their life.  They struggle to compartmentalize and push through when their usual routines are disrupted.  They often make things worse by falling further behind on key commitments, and then becoming increasingly anxious about how behind they have gotten. Of course, many of us have found ourselves in both situations in life, sometimes coping well with adversity, and in other cases, becoming overwhelmed.  

Karina Mangu-Ward wrote a great column recently for Fast Company.   She examined how high-performing teams remain steady and composed during crises.  Specifically, I thought her point about tradeoffs bears emphasis. She writes, 

One reason teams get frantic is that they try to optimize for everything at once: speed and perfection, quality and scale, consensus and velocity, innovation and risk. In calm periods that fantasy is inefficient. In turbulent periods it becomes fatal. Strong teams make explicit trade-offs early. They decide what matters most when good values collide.

I believe the same can be said for individuals.  Identifying our priorities and making tough tradeoffs can help us when things get a bit hectic.  Think back to my example with students.  Sometimes, submitting the assignment that is less than perfect is better than repeatedly missing deadlines in a course. Coming to class on time each day can pay huge dividends during a crisis, even if you are perhaps missing some assignments.  Communicating clearly with your faculty members is critical, perhaps more important than the work you do.  After all, if you ghost your professor, they will be far less likely to exercise leniency or offer extra support.  In short, you have to pick your spots when times get a bit hectic.  Too many students simply stop everything when they become overwhelmed, and then they begin a vicious downward spiral in which it becomes more and more difficult to bounce back.   The lesson is clear: Choose how to spend your time wisely, prioritize well, and then focus on those priorities.  Communicate clearly to those to whom you are accountable. Show up even if you can't always complete every task.  If students learn these habits in school, they will be far more successful in the workplace.