Are you a human being? Then stress happens to you too...

EVEN THOUGH you don’t consider yourself on the edge of burning out with stress this still counts for YOU: Stress is a circumstance that can’t be avoided but burning out with stress can and should be prevented!?

And knowing more about what stress really is and how much it affects your ability to think straight might make you think twice the next time you think of skipping your breaks to squeeze in extra tasks between your meetings…?

Very often we talk about stress as something we can avoid, but as I said we can't.?Stress, or the stress response, is part of our human biology, and at its core, it is a physiological process that is kick-started by a stimulus that our brain perceives as a threat…?

Stress - the flight and fight mode - is a physiological response that is here to protect us.?

Originally the dangers we needed to overcome were things such as a saber-toothed tiger.

Today - thank God - we don't need to fight tigers on our commute to work, we just need to deal with the frustration of yet another traffic jam, the bad drivers on the road, and challenges at work, none of which pose a physical threat to our lives.

HOWEVER, despite all the wonderful stuff we have invented to make our lives more secure and comfortable that traffic jam, the bad drivers, or our work can create the exact same stress response as if we stand in front of a saber-toothed tiger.

Stress in itself is NOT bad for us.

The problems start when we get stuck in the stress response, which will prevent our body and brain to get to a state of relaxation, and instead stay in a constant fight or flight mode.?I will get back to this.

The biggest mistake we make when we feel under a lot of pressure is to think that if we just solve the problem at hand our stress/pressure will automatically dissolve.

But it will not.

When we try to problem-solve while our brains are soaked in stress hormones we don’t give ourselves the optimal conditions to efficiently solve the problem (the stimuli perceived as a threat) that triggered the stress.?

Stress is a physiological response - but what does that really mean??

Okay, so this means that when the stress response is activated a lot of changes take place in your body: a range of hormones gets released… things like cortisol and adrenalin will rush through you to help re-organize the energy in your body to push as much blood to your muscles as possible.

Remember stress is the fight or flight mode, and it has one purpose: prepare your body for intense performance for a short while to increase your physical ability to survive, i.e. a saber-toothed tiger.

The changes happening also affect your brain: Your memory will change to narrow your focus to tune into the information that increases your chances for survival…?

This mechanism is also what can help you during a presentation where you seem to remember all kinds of stuff when people ask questions or details during the presentation.??

Brilliant, right?

The problems start when we get stuck in this state…?

Because at some point it will get counterproductive, and the same stress hormones (cortisol, adrenalin, etc.) that helped us perform (fight/flight) will prevent us to get to physical and mental relaxation… And we need that, or else problems will arise and we begin to experience symptoms such as:

• high pulse,
• shallow breathing,
• headaches, and
• feeling nauseous.
• It gets harder to concentrate,
• we feel irritated, impatient,

Our mind is everywhere, we forget stuff, have trouble with sleeping, I could go on…?

Okay, let’s link this to our efficiency…?

As I said earlier when the stress response kicks in our memory and focus narrow into the stuff relevant to survive/perform in a particular moment.??

Now imagine how this narrowed focus will impact your ability to find creative solutions to a problem, listen to understand and have a dialogue where you need to be open to perspectives different from yours!

It is not easy to be innovative and open to new perspectives, or stay constructive and positive if you are in the middle of a stress response - your physiology is making that super difficult for you.?

You are in survival mode, and not in let-me-be-open-communicative-constructive-mode…?

The 2 main reasons you must deal with your stress response before jumping to solution mode

1) When we are in the middle of the stress response we don't have the optimal conditions for problem-solving because the stress response decreases your cognitive ability for critical and analytical as well as creative thinking…?

The stress response is designed to help you fight a lion, and not to have civilized conversations with a colleague that repeatedly pisses you off, or sit in looooong meetings trying to see the big picture.?

To give yourself the optimal conditions to deal with challenges and deal with your stress response BEFORE you go into a meeting or have a difficult conversation.

2) Another benefit about dealing with your stress BEFORE dealing with the problem: once you regain access to more of your brain you might experience that the issues you thought were SO URGENT really are not that important.

And guess what? You just saved yourself (and probably other people too) for a lot of unnecessary additional tasks…?

So taking a 15 minutes break to reset before you jump to the next task will be much much more efficient than jumping rigth to it…

One last thing to bear in mind...

While it might seem logical while you are reading this, that of course, I work more efficiently after a break where I have regained access to more parts of my brain, here are two things to bear in mind that might make it difficult to practice:?

1. Your stress response will make you feel urged to stay in action mode because that is the nature of the fight and flight mode: do something to escape or fight the danger. So if you feel resistance and that it even feels counterintuitive to take that break, please know that you are absolutely normal, and then take that break anyway.?
2. You might be working in an environment where every issue is treated as super urgent and all challenges seem to be dealt with by doing more and more. If this is the case start questioning whether this is the right approach for you, and start exploring how YOU can approach your tasks in a different way. Taking the time to deal with your stress response will be good for your overall well-being and your performance.?

In order to support yourself in taking your breaks despite the above, I strongly recommend that you define 1 to 3 strategies that help you respect your breaks EVENTHOUGH you feel the urge to press on and skip them…

If you want to know how I can support you in defining and implementing these strategies, book a discovery call with me here:?https://calendly.com/rebekkaandresen/strategysession

Or DM me ??