Years ago, when I worked at Bank of Boston, the company went through an extended period of upheaval, marked by a series of layoffs, plunging stock prices, resignations – all of which caused uncertainty and anxiety – in other words, CHAOS. I remember one of my colleagues at the time asked, “How are we supposed to work through all of this?”

Since those days, I have worked in other companies and organizations when chaos has reared its head, and people still ask the same question – “How am I supposed to work through all of this?” While it is incumbent upon management to reduce the level of chaos (and that’s a different conversation), there is a simple, but likely not popular, answer – put your head down and get to work.

When chaos ensues, the best action you can take is to get to work. Unfortunately, many get caught up in a myriad of different actions and responses that only further perpetuate the chaos. There are three distinct things you can do to lessen the impact of chaotic times at work:

Avoid Office Gossip and Politics

Speculation around the water cooler is more destructive than helpful. Often those who claim to be “in the know” are actually disseminating false information. This further deepens the sense of chaos for most people. It also means you are spending time in the land of negativity and inaccuracy versus at your desk being productive, where YOU can make a difference.

Avoid Personal Speculation

Avoid the rabbit hole. While it can be productive to think about possibilities if there are actions you can take to make the situation better, sliding down the rabbit hole of negativity is unproductive. For example, if you fear your department is being moved across the country and you have no interest in going, then you might want to decide to look for another position at a different company, or you might want to reduce your spending for a few months to see how things shake out. But obsessing over whether or not this will happen and running through all the worst-case scenarios will leave you exhausted and unproductive.

避免情绪化的表现

当我们被忧虑压得喘不过气来的时候，它常常会影响到我们的情绪。当你周围一片混乱时，你想要避免情绪化的表现。首先，这会让别人认为你没有能力适应变化，这是JDB电子领导者的一项重要技能；其次，这会让你感到尴尬，或者让别人觉得你不太稳定。

我们经常处于一种不断变化的状态，混乱可能毫无征兆地出现。混乱可以持续很短的时间，也可以没有明显的离开日期。无论类型或持续时间如何，你能做的最好的事情就是继续做你的工作。向你周围的人——同事、下属和管理层证明，在这种情况下你还能继续表现。这样想，如果你的公司经历了艰难的一年，即将裁员10%（跨部门和各级），你最不想做的就是情绪化，在走廊里猜测，煽动别人，最重要的是，作为一个没有成效的人，把自己当成一个目标。当然，如果你担心变化的影响，特别是如果这种变化可能导致你失去工作，那么你就很难高效工作，但现实是，如果你因为担心办公室的事情而无法完成工作，你更有可能成为被选中的人之一。

所以，制定你的“待办事项”清单，每天完成你的工作。跳出框框思考，富有创造力，向你周围和上级展示你的贡献，你是创新的，你可以适应变化。

最好的，