Handling stress

I don't do well under pressure. Time constraints, budget constraints, difficult people and uncooperative technology all push my stress levels through the roof, and when those things are present, someone - a manager, in most cases - is there hovering over my shoulder making suggestions on how things could be done faster or better.

My main problem is that I am in an industry where these circumstances are run of the mill. High pressure, tight deadlines, no budget, screaming customers and exploding computers are considered normal job aspects. If you don't do well under pressure, software is not the industry for you. Worse, I think the entire world is becoming like this now. Even if I decide I've had enough of the software industry, there's no other profession that offers a low stress work environment. It's a standard job interview question: "how do you handle stress?", not because you will have some stressful days, but because handling stress is your job now. Keeping a fingernail grip on the edge of sanity is your only employable skill, and that's only because we already got rid of the guys who needed a whole fingertip grip.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - In some cases, the actual job could be taught to anyone.
PPS - And I need to learn to handle stress better.