Intercepting the Stress Response
Have you had that experience of being really busy, you have so much work to get through, but you don't get stressed, you get focused? You slip into a super productive zone and you enjoy burning through the work. It gives you a sense of accomplishment. Then there are those other times when you are really busy, but rather than get in the zone, you feel stressed and overwhelmed.
What is the difference? Understanding the answer to this question can have a significant impact on your performance and engagement at work.
The difference is your mindset. When you are in flow, you aren't really thinking about anything other than the task at hand. You are enjoying doing the do. You have a heightened sense of self-belief, you know you can do this.
When you are stressed and overwhelmed it's because you are thinking about how much work you have to do. You are questioning if you have the ability to get it done or not. You start to question the value of the work you are doing. Then you start to think about why is it always on you to get everything done.
You get the point. We get stressed and overwhelmed when we let our minds drift into a questioning mode, into doubting ourselves. It's those thoughts that generate the stress, not the workload.
Our experience is coming from our thoughts. Understanding this can have a major impact in how you experience stress.
Use the feelings of stress, tension, frustration, and overwhelm as early warning signs that your thinking is drifting to an unproductive place.
Typically what we do when we get stressed is push ourselves to work harder. We apply more pressure. We don't end up going any faster, in fact, we slow down because we are throttling the engine. We are overloading the server by using resources on thinking stressful thoughts. Rather than get more productive, we end up thinking more stressful and overwhelmed thoughts. It becomes a vicious circle.
Instead, do the opposite. When you get those early warning signs. Take a break. Go for a walk. Prepare a meal. Do some exercise. Give yourself some time to intercept the stressful train of thought. Acknowledge the thought but don't buy into it. After the break, return to your work and remind yourself that you will get through this. You will get the job done, one step at a time.
Experiment with it and see what comes up when you break your work habits and try new strategies for success.
Curious to learn how to optimize your mindset for performance? Feel free to contact me for a chat. I am developing a program to help professionals develop healthier strategies for success at work so they can show up more powerfully and perform at a higher level.
Wishing you a wonderful week ahead.
