Stress often gets a bad wrap. We often see stress as the villain in the narrative of productivity and performance. It’s something we often try to avoid, minimise or mitigate. Yet, what if we could learn to dance with stress, using it as a catalyst rather than allowing it to constrain us? This isn’t just a fanciful notion; it’s grounded in the latest research.

Understanding Stress: A Biological Perspective

The good news is that we’re neurobiologically designed to cope with stress. Our ancestors relied on stress responses to survive in the wild, and while our environment has drastically changed, our biology has not. Stress, when experienced in short bursts (known as ‘acute stress’), can actually enhance our performance- a quickened heart rate, narrow focus and hot of adrenaline and cortisol can drive our performance in the short-term. We’re also designed to close out the stress cycle. However, the digital demands and always-on world we now live and work in means that today, we very rarely experience acute stress, nor do we regularly nor completely resolve the stress cycle. Do you experience long periods of ‘inbox zero’? Nope, neither do I!

Instead, many of us are running stress marathons, where we experience ‘chronic stress’ when we’ve been designed for stress sprints. Chronic stress is not helpful and will diminish our physical health, mental wellbeing and/or performance. I see this in the wearable data from my Executive Coaching clients (and in my WHOOP data too). Using the ‘stress monitor’ feature, I can see in real time what and when my clients are stressed and how long they’re spending in the ‘high stress’ zone each day. I also show them how to track their Heart Rate Variability (HRV) over time, as this is also an excellent source of biometric data that summarises how well (or not so well) we’re managing our physical and psychological stress.

According to research by Alia Crum at Stanford, rethinking stress can lead to improved work performance and wellbeing. Crum’s studies revealed that the way that we cognitively appraise stress determines its impact, both physiologically, emotionally and psychologically. She found that when we perceive stress as a challenge rather than a threat, we can harness its energy to our advantage. When we view our stress response as our body and brain mounting the right response to the challenge then we can enhance our performance. Equally, if we view stress as something that is detrimental or something to be avoided, it can indeed have an adverse impact on our performance.

Moreover, recent research highlights the “clutch effect,” particularly in high-stakes professions like surgery. Surgeons who experience stress in the initial five minutes of a procedure tend to achieve better patient outcomes. Yes, you read that right. Experiencing stress early on in a medical procedure shows that there is a complex relationship between physiological stress and performance. This phenomenon underscores the potential of stress to sharpen our focus and enhance our cognitive capabilities, provided we manage it effectively.

Whilst you may not be conducting surgery, chances are you face high-stress situations throughout your day. Perhaps it’s a high-stakes pitch, a challenging client meeting, or perhaps it’s just getting the kids out the door on time. Developing the skills to strengthen your stress tolerance, eliminating any (unnecessary) micro-stressors in your day and developing the real-time protocols that help you respond to stress are imperative if you want to power-up and sustain your performance in our digitally-intense world.

This is why one of the three pillars in my Flourishing Formula is ‘Build Your Stress Adaptability’. Learning how to dance with stress is a core competency I developed in my keynotes and workshops.

Build Your Stress Adaptability so You Can Dance with Stress

In my keynotes and executive coaching sessions, I emphasise the importance of building stress adaptability. Here is a collection of micro-habits that can transform how you interact with stress:

1. Build Your Stress Tolerance

Our digitalised lives have made us very comfortable with being comfortable. We’re hot, we flick on the air-conditioner. We’re hungry so we order Uber Eats. We’re living in an age of instant gratification and this means we often shy away from discomfort, especially physical discomfort. However, if we want to build our tolerance to stress then we need to learn how to experience stress, particularly physical stress so we can also deal with the psychological stressors that are now an inevitable part of our modern days.

Embrace challenge over comfort

 
Pursuing activities that push your limits, such as deliberate cold or heat exposure, learning a new skill like a new language or surfing, or engaging in vigorous physical activity can activate the anterior mid-cingulate cortex, known as the willpower centre of the brain. This strengthens your stress tolerance, preparing you to handle future stressors with greater ease.

2. Reduce Your Micro-Stressors

Micro-stressors, though seemingly insignificant, can accumulate and weigh us down. Things like the constant ping of alerts and notifications, back-to-back virtual meetings and spending hours staring at a screen can be micro-stressors (as we’re biologically designed to stare in the distance, not spend hours staring at our screens). Simple actions like keeping your phone out of sight while working and bundling notifications at set intervals can prevent the constant drip of distractions and reduce the mirco-stressors that are present in our days. This allows you to maintain focus and reduces the cognitive load associated with frequent interruptions.

3. Increase Your Stress Resilience

When faced with stress, the goal is to respond, not react. Techniques such as practicing 2-3 sigh cycles (which is simply two inhalations through your nose in close succession, followed by a much longer exhale through the mouth), closing your eyes for 30 seconds (this gives your occipital lobe which is very active when you’re looking at your screens, a much-needed break), or taking a walk (when you walk, objects move past your eyes and this optic flow calms the amygdala, which is the emotional hub of your brain) can significantly enhance your stress resilience. Additionally, spending time in nature has been shown to have a profound calming effect, helping to reset your mental state.

This is where wearable data can be helpful. You cannot only pinpoint the times and sources of stress throughout your days and nights, but more importantly, you can measure how your body responds to any of the micro-habits listed above. For most of my coaching clients, building their stress tolerance through deliberate cold exposure and/or physical exercise and sighing have been the most helpful protocols to build their stress adaptability and flourish in the digital world.

Are You Going to Get on the Stress Dancefloor?

Stress is an inevitable part of life, but how we choose to interact with it can make all the difference. By embracing stress as a potential ally, we can unlock new levels of performance and wellbeing. It’s time we stop fighting stress and learn to dance with stress.

Want to find out how powered-up or down you are? Use my free Powered-Up Performance Profile tool.

Sources

He, Q., Chen, C., Dong, Q., Xue, G., Chen, C., Lu, Z. L., & Bechara, A. (2015). Gray and white matter structures in the midcingulate cortex region contribute to body mass index in Chinese young adults. Brain Structure and Function, 220, 319-329.

Crum, A. J., Akinola, M., Martin, A., & Fath, S. (2017). The role of stress mindset in shaping cognitive, emotional, and physiological responses to challenging and threatening stress. Anxiety, stress, & coping, 30(4), 379-395.

Touroutoglou, A., Andreano, J., Dickerson, B. C., & Barrett, L. F. (2020). The tenacious brain: How the anterior mid-cingulate contributes to achieving goals. Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior, 123, 12–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2019.09.011