From the onset, we must make one thing clear: the vast majority of people who think they code or do anything else well under pressure, don’t. We may exert ourselves to beat a deadline or achieve a goal but the reality is often the quality of the outcome isn’t what it would be under less stressful circumstances.
Programmers in particular have a hard time balancing demanding unreasonable client expectations with their own capabilities and realities. It’s not impossible though. The following tactics can increase your chances of delivering as expected despite tremendous pressure from a client.
1. No Coding Task is a Matter of Life-or-Death
High pressure moments often feel threatening, decisive and with outcomes that could permanently leave a negative impact on our future wellbeing. Thinking of pressure situations in this light only diminishes your self-confidence and levelheadedness by exacerbating the fear of failure.
This also inhibits your judgement and attention, and could trigger impulsive irrational actions. Instead, see a high pressure task as a fun challenge with significant rewards if you pull it off. You’ll have a clear head that creates the right environment to build a functioning efficient program.
2. No Pressure is Permanent
It’s good to see pressure as an opportunity to prove yourself. But it’s just as important for your mental wellbeing to view it as temporary and one of many opportunities likely to come by during your programming career.
When you look at pressure this way, you’ll have a more positive outlook. There’ll be a hope that even if something does go wrong this one time, it’s not the end of your career. This creates a reassurance and calm that makes coding a less anxious undertaking.
3. Focus on the Coding, Not the End Program
Developers are often discouraged from getting too consumed in coding to the extent of forgetting who the code is meant for. While it’s important to always maintain focus on the client’s needs, expectations and the end goal, you shouldn’t overdo it.
Remember, if a client is exerting an inordinate amount of pressure on you, chances are that each time you meet, they’ll leave you feeling frantic, frustrated and ineffective. Instead, develop a strict meeting schedule where you can share progress updates and the client can provide input.
If you perceive your client as one who routinely exerts unreasonably high pressure, these meetings should be as far apart as possible but without allowing you to go too far off tangent before the client corrects you.
4. Brace for the Worst
The reason why pressure can be so counterproductive to coding is because it creates a fear of the unknown. You are not sure what demand the client will come with next or how they will react if you fail to meet their expectations. You can remove the sting from failure by mentally preparing for the worst case scenario.
That could include documenting the coding, managing your logs and notifying key stakeholders when any major milestones are met. That way, nothing that happens will really catch you (or the client) by surprise. This will ensure you maintain your composure at all times so you can code to the best of your ability.
5. Remember Past Successes
Think about that time when a client made some seemingly impossible demands but you still managed to pull through. Or when you had to take on jobs from multiple projects at one go but had no problem exceeding expectations on all of them. Past success can be a powerful morale booster.
It gives you confidence that no matter how insurmountable your current assignment might seem, you have it within you to deliver. When you have a high opinion about your worth and ability, you can cut through the anxiety and deliver on what you need to do.
A bonus tip? Talk to someone. Approaching the client would be great but won’t always be a feasible option. If you are part of a team, you could raise the issue with your team leader to see if there’s a way around the unreasonable pressure. Talk to friends and family too as a burden shared is a burden halved.