How Do You Handle Stress and Pressure? (Best Answers)

I enjoy chatting with most customers, but some can be difficult. However, I always do my best to remain calm. About a month ago, a client ordered several items from the menu, but when it came to payment, he was stunned to see the total price of the order. He started accusing me of trying to put additional items on the bill to make him pay more. The client got angry and demanded to talk to the manager. I did my best to de-escalate the situation by calmly offering that we could go through all of the items on the bill together so he could see if the order was correct. When I confirmed with the customer that the bill consisted only of the things he ordered himself, he got calmer and paid for everything. I was stressed during and after that event, but I’m glad I’ve effectively communicated with this client and solved the problem without a manager’s intervention. After work, I rewarded myself by going to a movie theater to unwind. Of course, I don’t like stressful situations, but I try to use them as an opportunity to learn resilience.

I work in a high-stress profession, so I need to know how to handle stress and pressure effectively. I completed de-escalation training a year ago, using the techniques I learned to manage challenging situations. Most of the time, I try to talk calmly to a person causing a problem and observe their behavior to assess the risk of them becoming dangerous to themselves or others. I do my best to establish rapport and persuade them to stop their disruptive behavior. About six months ago, I was called to handle a hospitalized patient who suddenly became aggressive toward staff members taking care of him. Through a conversation with this patient, I understood that they were in a car accident and just woke up and couldn’t understand why they were in a hospital due to short-term memory loss. I’m proud that I managed to calm this patient down without needing any forcible measures.

I work on the first line of the customer support hotline. Nearly every day, I have to deal with customers who are upset. That can be difficult, so I do my best to de-stress after work by doing yoga and meditating. When customers become angry, I try to calm them down. I speak patiently, listen to what they want to say, and do my best to come up with a solution to their problem. One time, I picked up a call from a customer who was offered a refund a week ago. The customer was angry and asked impatiently why we didn’t give the refund to him yet. I explained calmly that refunds might take up to 10 days to be processed. The client then called me a liar and a thief and said that the company was stealing money from customers. He was screaming. After a moment, I read the refund regulations to him and reminded him that the law allows for up to 10 days to process refunds. He was still upset that this matter was taking so much time, but he calmed down and even apologized for shouting.

I encounter a significant amount of stress at work. Pressure from customers, expectations of managers, conflicts between teammates… That’s all just a daily reality. I try to minimize the number of stressful situations by being well organized and transparent in communication with clients and colleagues. At my previous job, I coordinated a complex project that required collaboration between developers, graphic designers, copywriters, and UI designers. The customer was very unhappy with the initial draft of the website our company created for him, and he wanted to find a different company to complete it for him. I organized a meeting with the client and our lead designers, and we compared their requests with the drafted website. Once they saw that our product was 100% compliant with what they ordered, they agreed to continue working with us. We implemented changes they deemed necessary and managed to complete the project within the deadline.

Bartending can be a fun and laid-back job, but honestly, challenges happen almost every night. Customers who don’t know how to handle alcohol become too friendly with others, try to steal something, start fighting… Most of the time, these situations are easy to solve—I just suggest calmly that I can call them a cab to help them get home, and if they are reasonable enough, they agree. One time, I had a complicated situation. A woman tried to talk to a man the entire evening, and he was just responding out of courtesy. Around midnight, she became aggressive toward him, loudly asking why he didn’t want to talk to her. Once I saw her grabbing his hand, I decided it was time to step in. I asked the man if he wanted to continue talking to her, and when he said no, I asked the woman to leave the bar. She was furious, and it took a few minutes to make her go. The man and his friends thanked me for stepping in. I think it’s important to be calm but firm in such situations. It’s better to let one customer go than allow them to make the atmosphere so unpleasant that more people will leave because of them.

My job can be pretty stressful because I deal with many people who are ill or elderly. They often worry about their health and become tense because of that. Plus, I usually have too many patients to care for within a tight timeframe. I do my best to organize my work time effectively by prioritizing critical duties, and I always try to stay calm, even when some patients behave unpleasantly. One very difficult situation I encountered was when one of the patients filed a complaint against me. They were unhappy because I didn’t give them a sleeping pill when they requested it. I calmly explained that I couldn’t give them any medicine that a doctor didn’t prescribe. They were on several medications then, and any additions could cause severe side effects. I suggested they talk to their doctor the next day if they have trouble sleeping. The patient was very unhappy about that. Luckily, the head nurse agreed that the complaint was unfair and that I did the right thing. This situation made me stressed, so to relax, I went on a long walk after work, which helped to clear my mind.

Most of the time, my job isn’t very stressful. But when the year-end comes, it can be really challenging. I often need to work overtime during that period, and I face a lot of pressure from my managers. Luckily, I’m well organized and good at prioritizing tasks. Once I know what needs to be done first, I focus on the task entirely and avoid distractions. Instead of taking work home, I prefer to stay longer in the office—then I know that after leaving my job, I can focus on my family entirely.

My job comes with a lot of responsibility, which generates pressure from my direct supervisors and stress when something goes wrong. I try to mitigate workplace challenges by solving issues as soon as possible. For example, when I notice a conflict between employees, I encourage them to ask HR to mediate. To make sure things run smoothly, I work with individual managers to establish goals for their departments and require regular updates on their progress. When I feel overwhelmed at work, I relax after hours by working out at the gym.

Most of the stress I face at work comes from not communicating clearly. For example, a colleague was waiting for me to complete a part of the code I was working on, but they didn’t say they couldn’t start their own work before I finished. That led to him feeling ignored by me. As soon as I noticed this issue, I apologized and asked them to be more transparent in the future. I always do my best to explain to my colleagues and managers what I need from them or what I’m working on, and we negotiate matters such as deadlines. This way, we can avoid having unrealistic expectations. After work, I relax by listening to music and crafting.

Being a teacher can be quite stressful. The pressure comes from all sides: from parents, students, school administrators, and other teachers too. I always tell myself that students’ interests are the most important, and I always do my best to remain calm. When a student starts misbehaving in class, I try to find a solution instead of coming up with punishments. For example, when last year, one of the girls in grade 10 started to act out and loudly talk to other students and interrupt me with irrelevant questions during class, I started paying more attention to her. I gave her tasks that required leading other students to complete class projects. This way, she could use her energy and need for attention constructively.