Managing anxiety during high-pressure periods
Product launches, audits, reorganisations. Practical ways to keep anxiety workable when the pressure is real and temporary.
By Amara Okonkwo, Counselling Psychologist
Some anxiety during a demanding period is appropriate. Your body is mobilising for something that genuinely matters. The problem is when the mobilisation never switches off, and thinking becomes narrower exactly when you need it to be broad.
Start with the physical layer. Slower exhalations than inhalations, a short walk outdoors, and eating at regular times will not solve the underlying pressure, but they lower the baseline enough that your thinking works again.
Then narrow the frame. Anxiety expands time — it asks you to solve the next six months this afternoon. Write down what genuinely needs a decision this week, and park the rest in a named list you will revisit on a set day.
Finally, name the finish line. High-pressure periods become damaging when they blur into a permanent state. Agree with yourself, and where possible with your manager, what the recovery period after this one looks like.
