Staying Positive in Stressful Situations at Work

Imagine yourself working as a hotel receptionist earning a minimum wage with a hundred guest rooms. The job itself doesn’t sound challenging at all since it doesn’t require to meet some deadline or quota, but some situation could make the work worse and turn your day dreadfully.

Put yourself into this situation: You got home from work at 10 o’clock in the evening feeling really tired. Before going to bed, you fed your dog, wash some dishes, and prepared the water bill that you must pay for tomorrow. As early as 4 o’clock in the morning, your supervisor called to tell you that you have to report by 6 o’clock in the morning instead of 2 o’clock in the afternoon since the hotel is fully booked because of a convention, and guests advised that they will have an early check-in. So eventually, your day would be hectic and a lot of uncertainties might happen so it is needed to keep an open mind about everything.

A 30 minutes break at the cafeteria can relax you for a while, but not for long cause your co-worker called through an intercom asking you to cut your break time to assist some complaining guest. You did everything you must do on your shift –the guest list, endorsement, report- and all turned out well. You feel relieve knowing you will be off for home in a few minutes now. But suddenly, your supervisor approached to ask you to extend for another 8 hours because your reliever cannot make it because of an important reason. It’s not an option because in situations like that must be expected and you must do it even your feet already sore wearing 3 inches high heel for 8 hours now.

You’re thinking of your dog -hungry and alone-, and the water bill that should be settled by now to avoid charges. But it's not the time to think about these cause you need to focus on your work. Then there was a call from an in-house guest complaining and furious about the toilet bowl that doesn’t flush out and demanding that you should transfer her to another room. The problem is, almost all of the room is occupied by now except for one, which is strictly reserved for a VIP guest who is yet to arrive. You decided to give the room for the complaining guest for her convenience. Unfortunately, the guest which should be assigned to that room arrived sooner than you expected and the maintenance in-charge hasn’t fixed the toilet bowl flush yet. So you let the guest wait some time and just keep on smiling hoping it would help amidst all the nasty comment you heard.

Another guest called asking about her taxi cab request, then suddenly you got confused because your partner forgot to turn over that to you so you have to apologize to the guest. Then she request for a wake up call for the next morning and you answered “yes sir,” assuming it was a man because of its voice, but the guest was insulted and furious about what you called her since she is a woman. And worse of all, she is the aunt of the hotel’s owner and she’s yelling over the phone telling you to quit your job if you can't do it right. Your day would be filled up with guest complaints and you negotiate with them one by one, separating your personal feelings and keeping in mind that they are not angry of you personally, but of the uncertainties. Well of course you would not expect them to understand your situation. They wouldn't mind that your callus on the soles of your feet are tormenting you the whole time you stood there at the reception area.

You went home from work really and really exhausted and sleepy. And you tell yourself "I handled everything in the best way I can. Today ends and tomorrow will be different." In Situations like that, we really need a strong positive attitude because it’s not like falling off a log to deal with the attitude of different people.

Note: Based on combined stories.