If you have paid close attention to the job market, one thing that you may have noticed is that the jobs that command a relatively high salary are often jobs that require you to work under pressure. The reason for this is because many jobs that offer very high salaries are those which are sensitive and subject to risk.

For example, if you are working as a neurosurgeon, you cannot afford to make mistakes, since they can cost you your career, and depending on the circumstances, maybe even your freedom. Therefore, neurosurgeons, and doctors in general, are under a great deal of pressure on a daily basis, and get paid a huge salary as a result.

If you happen to be in the Secret Service, and your job is to protect the President of the United States, you cannot really afford to make mistakes. Much like the neurosurgeon, you’re under a lot of pressure to make sure the president is protected at all times.

If you want to get a stable job that pays a very generous salary, you must first accept the fact that many such jobs will require you to work under intense pressure. If you are the type of person that cracks under pressure, you will not be very valuable in these fields.

One of the first steps towards being able to work well under pressure is to be skilled at planning. While things will happen in life that you are not prepared for, you must quickly be able to adapt to them. Many things in life that "come as a surprise" are typically things that you can prepare for in advance.

For example, if you live in an area that is known for having Hurricanes, it pays to take the necessary precautions in case a Hurricane appears. If you know that you can end up out on the streets if you become unable to pay your bills, and your job is unstable, it makes since to either save money, or get a job that is stable.

Plan Ahead

At school, we are often given projects that have a specific deadline for completion. Our teachers give us these projects so that we can learn to follow specific deadlines, and work on a schedule. If you have ever waited to the last minute to work on a project that has a deadline (most of us have at one time or another), you know how much pressure you are under to complete it successfully by the deadline. In this case, the pressure that you are under is self inflicted. If you had only planned ahead, and avoided procrastination, you would not have put yourself under so much pressure.

The best way to avoid pressure, particularly on a project that has a tight deadline, is to break it into portions and complete it bit-by-bit. By doing this, you reduce the pressure that is put on. While most people want to know how to work well under pressure, one of the best ways of dealing with pressure is simply to reduce the amount of pressure that has been placed on you. You can achieve this by simply being organized, and doing things in phases. Another method of working well under pressure is to understand the importance of delegating tasks.

There is a limit to how much work any one of us can do, and when you attempt too much at once, all you do is burn yourself out. A much wiser course of action is simply to delegate tasks to other people. If you do not have a team, it may be a good idea to form one, with you as the leader.

By working with a team, you have suddenly taken the bulk of the work originally placed on you alone, and have distributed to others, making use of their collective energy. In addition to understanding when tasks should be delegated to others, you should also understand the importance of remaining calm under fire.

Remain Calm

One thing that successful commandos understand is that panic on the battlefield always leads to death. When you panic, you become less rational, and you are prone to making mistakes that you normally would not make, allowing your enemies to take control of you.

No matter how much pressure you are under, you must learn how to remain calm and resolved. By staying calm, you can remain rational and think things through in a logical and consistent manner. Hannibal, regarded as one of the best military strategists in history, was alleged to have joked around with his men just before the infamous battle of Cannae.

Despite the fact that Hannibal and his men were faced with an overwhelming force of Roman legions, they emerged successful. Napoleon Bonaparte is said to have had a horse shot from under him with a cannon, and yet he still survived. Whether you are on the physical battlefield or the business one, your ability to remain calm under pressure can mean the difference between life and death.