Work can feel like a raging hurricane. Slacks and emails whirl around at 120 mph, calendars shift like boiling oceans beneath you, emotional intensity mirrors a biting hailstorm and raucous thunderclaps pop-off from coworkers and partners demanding your time.
This sense of craziness at work has become so commonplace it’s now the norm for many professionals I encounter seeking coaching. Too often, they don’t realize there’s another way to “be” at work, without sacrificing the quality of what they “do” or compromising who they aspire to “become.”
Feeling as though you’re working in a hurricane, amidst breakneck speed and high stress, likely means you’re suppressing your cabailities more than you might imagine. Mental pressure, after all, is the enemy of performance.
The good news is, much like the center of a literal hurricane is serene compared to its periphery, finding a calm, high-performing space within your work environment is closer than you think.
Finding Calm in the Storm
If you were to fly a plane through a hurricane (as some daredevils and climate scientists do!), you’d find large swaths of space - the eye of the hurricane - up to a hundred miles wide, calm and serene, with barely a rustle of wind. It’s here you’d find ample sunshine and peace, where soaring birds linger, biding their time as the storm subsides.
From a work standpoint, the same analogy holds. Amid the most challenging circumstances, you can find your way to a space that is calm and peaceful, where you can be well and think creatively. It’s from this state of mind that you can best address work needs from a place of insight, not insecurity.
Though it may sound like metaphysical gobbledygook, it’s not!
It’s an immensely practical and powerful understanding that can rescue an ambitious person from the grips of burnout and save a career from premature abandonment.
So, in service of this understanding, here are five ways you can thrive in the eye of your proverbial work hurricane, listed in no particular order, though the last is my personal favorite:
1. Engage Your Body
Steve Jobs was famous for his walk-and-talk 1-1 meetings. This, in part, led to the development of the new circular Apple headquarters, with plenty of space to wander through a massive fruit-tree-laden courtyard throughout the day.
At Microsoft, where I spent 14 years, the miles of winding forest trails and sidewalks around the Redmond campus were always dotted with people working through problems, either alone or in groups.
The human body-mind has evolved to move while problem-solving (“Which way is the berry bush? Where did that deer we are hunting run off to?”), so it makes sense that movement helps the mind work in a balanced and effective manner, particularly when dealing with uncertainty.
Even in the dead of winter here in Minnesota, I frequently stand and walk around my home and office. Each time I return to my desk after a stroll, my mind feels a bit lighter and clearer.
Research supports this practice; a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology found that walking boosts creative ideation both in real-time and shortly after.
2. Breathe
The deep connection between breath and mind is undeniable. My long-term practice and previous life as a yoga teacher has shown me the dramatic effects of just a few minutes of mindful breathing.
Controlled breathing reduces cortisol levels and enhances attention and emotional regulation, a powerful tool for managing workplace stress, as found in a study in the Journal of Psychological Science.
Breathwork spans many ancient traditions, from the shamanic practices of the Americas to the pranayama of Indian yogis, the Taoist cultivation of Chi, and the Stoic exercises of the Ancient Greeks, all aimed at balancing the mind.
My preferred method of the moment, “box breathing,” involves nasal breathing in an even pattern, balancing inhalation, exhalation, and breath-holding. It’s simple yet profoundly effective. It’s an ancient yogic technique that has become popular with fitness enthusiasts and is widely practiced by Navy SEALs and elite units where staying calm under pressure is a matter of life-or-death.
Even simpler, just breathe mindfully through the nose throughout the day. Keeping the mouth shut has many proven benefits to the body and mind, as I discussed with breathing expert Patrick McKeown years ago on an episode of my podcast.
3. Journal
The benefits of journaling for enhancing learning are well-known. It’s also a helpful technique for slowing the mind down by promoting conscious awareness of what’s happening and why.
I encourage journaling using pen and paper (or a tablet) as the slow, highly engaged process of writing aids in calming a busy mind. For most of us, the frenetic speed at which we type isn’t helpful to a busy mind. Since the name of the game is to slow the mind down, I prefer a journaling process that facilitates moving more slowly and deliberately, and a pen (or tablet/stylus) tends to work best for this purpose.
Through coaching hundreds of professionals, I’ve learned that while this is beneficial for most, some (5-10% of people if I need to guess) find that journaling creates more confusion and pressure in the mind. If this is the case for you, don’t force it! Find another technique that is a better fit.
4. Be with Nature
There’s something inherently calming about natural environments.
Research published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health shows that even brief interactions with nature can decrease stress, enhance mood, and improve cognitive function.
Next time you’re caught up in the work hurricane, look out your window. Can you see a flower, a bush, a tree, or even the clouds?
Let these sights captivate you, and bring you into the present moment, where clarity of mind is found. For me, staring out at the tops of trees, watching them sway in the wind, quickly snaps me out of overthinking and brings me back to reality.
5. Take “Real Breaks“
My favorite way to find calm in the storm is to take a “real break“ with no fixed agenda. The key here is “no fixed agenda.” I let my mind and body dictate what I do, with a focus on relaxation.
The truth is that while tactics are nice and helpful, the mind has a built-in design to settle and find clarity. You don’t have to do anything to find and create peace, your mind will get you there if you allow it to!
A “real break” is a planless period where you can just “be” and engage with your life while allowing the intelligence and wisdom that is built into you to work for you.
Most ambitious people have no unstructured time in their day. Everything is scheduled, and even unstructured time is laid in with expectations, or quasi-productive tasks, like listening to podcasts, watching videos, reading books and the like.
A “real break” is about cutting off the nonstop stimulus-response mechanism that’s driving your thinking and allowing the flywheel of your intellect to settle down as its inertia fizzles out.
Science backs up what I’ve anecdotally known for decades. A study by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found that taking brief diversions from a task can significantly improve one’s ability to focus on that task for prolonged periods. For periods of heavy overthinking, you might need more than a brief diversion, perhaps even a few days of a real break can work wonderfully.
Try dropping in more “real breaks” in your workday, especially when you feel caught up in the storm of your circumstances, and see what happens.
Go Deeper
What I’m sharing here is rooted in both ancient wisdom and modern science. There are practical solutions for thriving in today’s fast-paced work environments. Indeed, you can operate in the eye of your proverbial hurricane at work, no matter how intense the winds!
Keep in mind that the methods listed are not exhaustive. As you experiment with them, pay attention to what supports you in returning to the calm center amidst the busy storm of your day. You might find that a little bit goes a long way.
To go deeper, I invite you to contemplate this question:
What moves you into the calm “eye of the hurricane” at work?
Reflect and journal what comes to mind.
The next time the winds of your workday pick up speed, see how these strategies - and the new ones you come up with - can help you navigate whatever comes your way with both peace of mind and far greater success.