You have to find your stress sweet spot as the pressure mounts
Published 19 days ago • 4 min read
Not all stress is bad for you. Some of it is good.
We get caught up in the 'stress is bad, get rid of it' message, and lose sight of how the stress response keeps us alive.
Our stress response exists to help us adapt and react to challenges we face. It's normal.
Heart rate rises, glucose is released into the bloodstream, muscles tense, our vision narrows - this is great in short-term stress situations and mobilises us for action.
What isn't helpful is chronic stress. This response over a long period of time, at greater intensity puts too much physical and mental pressure on the body and mind.
We end up with cardiovascular issues, joint pains, insomnia, digestive problems and so on.
Living life the way we want and doing activities that add richness to it seem like a distant dream.
Chronic Stress Makes it Harder to Manage Stress
Chronic stress ultimately makes our stress response less effective.
The brain circuits involved become dysregulated as excess hormones and glucose released into the system break down brain cells and how these work together in key whole-brain networks.
Chronic stress and burnout take time to recover from because these brain circuits need time to rebuild and work as they should, impacting wide-reaching body processes.
Our sleep becomes dysregulated making the problem worse. What we want to eat changes when we don't get enough sleep too, and end up over- or under- consuming food.
This alters how we well we respond to ongoing stress and the spiral down continues. Reversing this takes time and care.
People are often surprised when I tell them that many of my burnout clients want to focus on improving sleep and diet as initial areas to change.
These are fundamental aspects of life that become disrupted so it doesn't surprise me at all.
But you can make small changes directly once you work out the 1-2 first steps you're ready to take. It's a good place to start for retreating from chronic stress and burnout.
So, we need to notice as stress ramps up - the sooner we catch it, the sooner we put healthier practices in place.
Finding your Stress Sweet Spot therefore helps you surf challenges flexibly and resiliently without burning out or ending up catatonic on the sofa.
How Do You Find Your Stress Sweet Spot?
Acute or short-term stress enhances our performance as it's how we're built to respond.
But as pressure mounts and we believe we can't cope with it, that's when stress becomes more intense and overwhelming.
The image below shows the Stress Sweet Spot on the Ability to Cope/Pressure Chart- it's a cool little visual to see where we might sit in this perceived ability to cope vs perceived pressure combo.
The Stress Sweet Spot is the balancing point where we're effective, alert and stimulated but not tired and wired.
We take decisive action and our creativity bubbles in a rewarding flow state. We're in our personal optimal zone.
Ability to Cope/Pressure Chart by Sabrina Ahmed (adapted from Palmer & Strickland, 1996)
Reflect on the last time you felt like that. What were you doing?
For me it was this past weekend - I delivered a Workshop for the Ness Labs Community earlier today (Break Out of the Burnout Cycle) and I was nervous about how it would go.
I researched content over the past couple of weeks and pulled the materials together in a few hours.
I knew I had to get it done before I went to sleep last night but I was in the creative zone for a few hours.
It's a topic I'm passionate about and I wanted to make it as visually appealing as possible.
Yes, I did end up down a Canva rabbit-hole but it was creative joy.
Overall, it was the perfect blend of pressure and ability to cope.
I buzzed with ideas and worked through my plan.
The Workshop went well (I think!) - it felt like a great use of time and energy.
So what can you do?
Answer the following questions to find your Stress Sweet Spot:
How have you felt in the last week - tired, bored, irritated or something else?
Where would you plot yourself on the Ability to Cope/Pressure Chart today? How about on an average day?
Does your position on the Chart shift during the day? How?
Does your position on the Chart shift with different activities? How?
What can you change or adapt to shift your position on the Chart?
This is just the start but get curious about your experience, and draw on when you've been happily firing on all cylinders in the past.
Make Mindful Self-Awareness a Daily Habit
If you get into the habit of reflecting on this every day, you'll notice patterns and trends to do something about.
Increasing awareness of your daily life and how you respond in it is such an important skill to cultivate.
When we're stressed or underwhelmed, it's easy to believe life is happening to us and we have no agency in it.
That's not the case.
Make a promise to yourself to spend 2 minutes every day considering the questions above and what you can change.
Start small and the initial experimental steps will build.
Keep what works and ditch or adapt what doesn't.
You'll get more done and enjoy what you're doing once you find your Stress Sweet Spot.
Burnout Coach, Neuroscientist and Art-based Practitioner, helping business owners and leaders overcome burnout, improve focus and reduce overwhelm to manage a fab business and life they love. I write about personal growth, lifestyle, relationships and work.