#WorkMomSays one of the best ways to make yourself an asset in the workplace is by being the calm in the storm. In this episode, learn how to stay level-headed during stressful professional situations and avoid getting lost in your emotions. Themes discussed in this episode Observe, don’t absorb Personal experiences of being the calm in the storm and making yourself an asset Identifying anxiety-inducing work environments vs one-off stressful situations Immediately move into problem-solving mode Episode Highlights Timestamped inflection points from the show 02:30 – Observe, don’t absorb: Instead of internalizing the stress and negative emotions during a crazy work situation, take a step back and look at the bigger picture before you respond.04:00 – Stressful workplace vs stressful situation: If you’re under constant stress and unable to function at work, it might be time to find a new job06:00 – Personal story of keeping calm in chaos: Work Mom shares a crazy work story from her video production days when she stayed calm and solved a huge problem without a freakout.08:30 – Mindset shift: If you can get into a problem-solving mindset, there’s no room for drama and chaos because you’re in action already. Top Quotes 00:45 – “Staying calm under pressure when things are nuts is really important to both your productivity and your mental well-being.”04:00 – “How important is it really that you respond right now? In most cases, you have at least a few minutes. Do you have enough time to step away and take a few deep breaths? It’s surprising how breathing techniques can help you feel calmer immediately.”05:45 – It can be really difficult working for someone who is constantly chaotic and pushing fast and moving fast if that’s not who you are. And if that causes you a lot of anxiety, it may not be a good fit for you.08:30 – Once you move into that problem-solving mode, you’re in action, and it’s a lot harder to be stressed out and freaking out if you are in action toward a solution. Transcript 00:00Hello, I’m Lori Jo Vest. Thank you so much for joining me for this episode of Work Mom Says. Today we are going to talk about keeping your calm when everyone around you is freaking out. It happens. Things go haywire sometimes. And you can’t let overwhelming or overwrought emotions get in the way of figuring out what happened and how to fix it or figuring out just how to get through the situation if it’s just going to be a difficult one. And that will happen as well. So what I want to talk about is what have you ever felt? Get rid of that. Staying calm under pressure when things are nuts is really important to both your productivity and your mental well-being. Both of those things are really important to your success. And if you can practice staying calm and growing your emotional intelligence, you will have a skill that you can use for the rest of your life. 01:00And I’ll give you an example. When someone comes at you, let’s say you’ve got an angry client or an angry coworker, and they’re full on coming at you loud, angry. What do you do? Give that a second of thought. What do you do? Do you go into fight, flight, freeze? That’s naturally what our brains want us to do when we feel unsafe or attacked. We’ve got a little tiny part of our brain back here about the size of an almond called the amygdala. And it tells us, you know, it’s basically the center of our trauma response. 02:00So when something happens, how do you react? And if you react with anger under stress, that’s not good. If you react with fear under stress, that’s not good either. Anxiety, not good. Flight, running away, or what they call freeze, where you just don’t confront it. None of those are good responses to stressful situations at work. What is, is a strategic minds