On the Job: Breathe

I am about to be buried under a mountain of book returns. You may think I'm kidding, but in the coming three weeks I will handle the amount of books we usually see over the course of three months. Needless to say, this is not by favorite time of year (and it happens twice). The end of the semester is why I have my job, but that doesn't make it any easier to handle.

I start dreading the incoming inundation a few weeks out, and my dread grows the closer we come to finals week. The avalanche is unavoidable. Instead of stressing, I have a mantra: "Just breathe." As long as I'm inhaling and exhaling oxygen, I know I can get through the coming onslaught.

Work can be incredibly stressful. We can plan, organize, and collaborate all we want, but sometimes work is just a hard slog we have to get through. Put one foot in front of the other, handle one task at a time, and we'll get through it. Breathing deeply, even for just a few moments, provides a calm in the storm. You get a few seconds or minutes to yourself to find a moment of rest. Deep breathing has also been shown to reduce stress and increase focus.

My "just breathe" mantra goes beyond the actually need to fill the lungs; "just breathe" means taking it all in as it comes and just going with the flow. There is not point in making difficult tasks harder by trying to force them to completetion. Sometimes you just have to let go, breathe, and work on things as they come in. Breathing will help you find a rhythm in the chaos.

Just breathe, and things will get better.