Creating your Optimal Stress Zone

Stress is a normal part of life. Without it, nothing would get done. We need stress or motivation in our lives to pay bills on time, put food on our table, or to do well at our jobs. Imagine a world where there was no threat of having your electricity shut off because you didn’t pay your bill. Would you pay it? Nope. What if there was no consequence, like getting fired, to doing less than the bare minimum at work? Would you work hard to meet deadlines and be productive? Nope. We need stress because stress gets the job done.

However, sometimes we take it too far. We become too consumed with the stress of giving it 110%, too absorbed in deadlines and overcome by personal standards that we work ourselves into a burnout. Neither extremes on the stress scale are helpful. On the lower end of the stress spectrum, things don’t get done. On the higher end of the spectrum, excessive stress becomes damaging to you. What we have to do now is figure out what our optimal stress level is.

Everyone has a different optimum depending on our strengths and capability. By figuring out where your optimal level is, you can prevent yourself from burning out and strive on the right amount of motivation. Not sure how to do that? Let’s start with your upper limit.

The upper limit is the imaginary boundary that separates your optimal stress level from excessive stress. To determine this limit, think about how you feel when you are a stress ball. What are some cues? Popular cues include: little patience, becoming easily frustrated, lack of appetite (or increased appetite), lack of sleep (or too much sleep), fatigue, frequent headaches, eye twitches, crying without triggers etc. Your goal is to work in a realm that does not entertain these symptoms. As soon as you begin seeing symptoms of excessive stress, it’s time to STOP, take a look at your plate and re-evaluate. Re-evaluation can include adding self-care practices into your day, meditating, taking a break from work, taking something off your to-do list, and prioritizing.

Your lower limit is the imaginary boundary between your optimal stress level and lack of stress. We know what lack of stress looks like: procrastination, little motivation, lack of interest and drive. When we operate in this zone, no work is completed. To get out of this zone, dig a little. Ask yourself why are you unmotivated. What is preventing you from getting tasks completed? What aids can you utilize you get yourself going? How can you add pressure to get started? Perhaps it’s helpful to set personal deadlines for yourself, create goals, keep yourself accountable.

I always go back to "too much or too little of anything is a bad thing". This includes stress. Figure out what your capabilities are when it comes to managing stress and work within it.