How do you handle a demanding day when your attention, your focus, your understanding, and your leadership are needed by your team and you are not feeling well? On Thursday I had that day. I was tired and emotionally depleted having spent most of the previous day on the road traveling to and from a family funeral. I was leaving that Thursday afternoon for a long trip to my daughter’s graduation. That same day also happened to be the third in a row of labor intensive construction of a new electronic medical record at our agency. In addition, I had four different department meetings scheduled to work through issues that required my best concentration and problem solving. I was stressed and had a headache that felt like a vice grip from my shoulders up.
Days like this require an extra effort at self-control and self-awareness. I made this list of things I try to do on days I feel lousy while at the same time my focus and leadership are necessary.
- Decision making is one of the primary tasks of a leader. On a day you are feeling lousy give yourself more time to think through decisions. Tell your team you are considering options and need some time to think about it.
- When you feel lousy it may seem like everything is closing in on you. Find five minutes to go to your office, close the door, and do deep breathing exercises.
- When you are tired and stressed even little things can seem huge. Set up a mental rule to not respond to people who are making you feel irritated. Take deep breaths. Jot down a note about the thing that is irritating you and deal with it when you feel better.
- When you are stressed you may feel pressured to do something that in reality can wait. Go to a trusted coworker, tell them how you feel. Ask them point blank if your thinking on a subject is clear and if a decision can wait.
- Drink a lot of water.
- Focus on simple tasks that take less mental energy.
- Go outside and walk around the building.
- When you are stressed it is easy to perseverate on the negative and make mountains out of mole hills. Have a positive, affirming verse, poem, or phrase to repeat in your mind when you became negative or feel overwhelmed.
- Think about what is going well so your view of problems gain some perspective.
- In order to use what energy you have where it is most important, reschedule any meetings that you can.
- Take care of yourself today so you can be at your best later.