Perhaps you were one of those students who studied the night before an exam, or perhaps you were one of those who needed constant supervision to complete their assignments, then: In what situations can working under pressure be an advantage or a hindrance?
Writer Elena Sanz says - in a report published by the Spanish magazine La Mente Es Maravillosa that some people tend to postpone the completion of work and projects until almost the deadline, and they may feel that this additional stress is what motivates them and makes them more effective than Where performance, she asked: But how true is that?
She adds that the answer is not simple because it depends on various factors, since childhood educators encourage us to take enough time and remain calm when doing projects to achieve goals, however many people have found that without this additional stimulation they will not be able to focus and complete their tasks, if you are one of them you will be Interested to know the cause and consequences of this.
Yes..we can perform better under pressure
A certain degree of activation can be beneficial, which is why many people feel comfortable working under pressure. The first thing you need to know is that you are likely to perform better when faced with a certain pressure. This can happen due to lack of time or due to the supervision of the boss. Or because of the amount of risk involved in that activity or project, according to the author.
If the pressure is severe, you will feel tired and stalemate and the payoff will be much less than your means (Shutterstock)
Sans turns out that this is a well-known and contradictory fact in the field of psychology, which is accurately reflected in the famous Yerkes-Dodson law, where these two authors developed their theory at the beginning of the 20th century, and stated that the relationship between anxiety and performance takes the form of the letter "U" (U), i.e. A certain degree of activation (physically or mentally) would be beneficial, but if it was excessive it would be counterproductive.
She explained, “What happens is that this element of pressure provides motivation and allows us to focus more on the task at hand and be more careful and precise, and without it we can feel apathy and approach work with hesitation and lack of accuracy. Our reward is much less than our means."
The writer states that it is not easy now to calculate the degree of activation that we need to achieve optimal performance, because it depends on different variables, for example: according to the personality of each individual or the characteristics of the task in the face of a simple activity that we know and master well, the pressure here can serve as a stimulus, and on the contrary Hence, when we are faced with a complex and unknown job in which we are not highly skilled, excessive worry can make us fail.
What lies behind the need to push for performance?
Sans sees perfectionism and procrastination often behind the need to work under pressure, and in addition to the above, there are people who systematically need and create stress situations when faced with a job or task.
Generally, they leave everything until the last minute and start a task when they barely have time to tackle it, and this habit known as "procrastination" often hides the fear of not being able to complete the task.
The writer points out that it is paradoxical that this habit is typical for people who are looking for perfection, where the degree of demand - which they impose on themselves - makes the task stressful, and thus they avoid facing it and postpone the moment of start indefinitely and are preoccupied with unimportant matters and tasks until they have no choice Only do it.
She indicated that these people may feel that their performance improves under pressure, but in reality they are people who have difficulties in managing the negative feelings that the project or activity in question provokes.
Paradoxically, working under pressure is typical of perfectionists (Shutterstock)
Better performance under pressure is an advantage and a disadvantage at the same time
The author pointed out that personality is one of the factors that most influence the degree of activation we can tolerate before our performance drops, which is exactly why some people know how to perform better under pressure than others.
Sanz stresses that this issue is highly valued by companies today, as recruiters tend to focus on it in the selection of employees, as it reflects the ability to implement the project quickly and efficiently in stressful situations without feeling overwhelmed or paralyzed.
In her article, she emphasized that knowing how to act under pressure is one thing, and the need to pressure to act is another. If you wait voluntarily until the last minute to tackle your pending tasks, and if you do so because you need this pressure to motivate you, you are making a mistake.
In such a situation you are more likely to do a modest or much less work than you would have done under other circumstances, the pressure is not making you work to "win", but simply to "not lose", because in this case you can no longer pay attention to detail or review New ideas or adding them, you just have to be satisfied.
Sans points out that for this reason, if you're someone who tends to procrastinate and can't motivate yourself without that extra pressure, you may need to review your fears and manage your emotions. By doing so, you'll be closer to being able to truly tap into your potential.