Managing Stress: What's your Upper Limit of Stress?
Y'all, it's been a crazy few months and I'm (finally) beginning to enjoy the calm before the storm that I fondly call Christmas. From running the practice, making a few tweaks to the business, overseeing DIY Anger Kit's launch, and a few speaking engagements, my plate has runneth over. I came across this meme the other day and it summarized life PERFECTLY:
I'd be lying if I said that I handled it like a champ and did not feel overwhelmed at all. Let me tell you, I was overwhelmed beyond belief. Luckily for me, however, I have gotten better at recognizing the signs of my upper limit of stress and this allowed me to take a pause, evaluate what was going on, and modify things as needed so that I can cut down the anxiousness I was feeling.
I referred to the Yerkes-Dodson Law of Performance and Stress at my recent talk with NextGenMen's Wolf Pack where we talked about all things stress. I believe in the law so much that I apply it in my life. The Yerkes-Dodson Law shows the relationship between arousal (stress) and performance - With increasing arousal, performance also increases. However, this is true up to a point. When levels of arousal become too high, performance decreases.
To work effectively and to achieve optimal performance, you have to maintain a moderate level of stress/arousal. Too much stress will only debilitate you due to feeling overwhelmed or anxious. When there is little arousal, you lack the motivation to perform. Think of it this way, if you had a 20 page paper that was due in 3 months, will you be motivated to work on it today? No. This is an example of little stress and therefore no performance. Imagine if the same 20 page paper was due tomorrow morning and you have yet to begin. How well do you think you will do on this paper? Probably not your best work. This is an example of how too much stress can negatively affect your work. The bottom line is this:
Little stress hinders your performance because you're not motivated to work. Too much stress hinders your performance because you're too overwhelmed to work. You want to find that sweet middle spot where you have just the right amount of stress to get things going - like writing your 20 page paper 3-4 weeks in advance.
Experience has taught me to become mindful of when I am approaching my upper limit of stress so that I'm not dabbling in the territory of "too much arousal". There are a few things that I keep my eye out for to help me realize that I'm walking into forbidden territory. Here are a few hints:
1. My eye lids start to twitch
2. Tightness in my chest
3. Stress gag
4. Heaviness under my eyes
5. Quick to anger
6. Wine cravings at the end of the day
7. My head feels heavy
8. Food cravings for all things sugar
I know that for me, most of my symptoms are physical - this is probably because my mind is good at telling me to keep going (even when I shouldn't) but my body makes sure that I pay attention to it. When the above signs kick in, I know it's time for me to take a step back, evaluate, shake things up and then move forward.
This time around, what made me pay attention was the tightness in my chest and my head was feeling heavy. I had to allow myself to take a few days to take it easy and to just do the bare minimum. When I had a free moment, I let myself catch up on some TV, eat whatever my body wanted and not worry about the calories I consumed (that's a whole other stress on its own). This helped re-energize me, re-focus, and re-proritize.
What are some of your signs? How do you know you've reached your upper limit? What do you do to combat this?