Do you want to perform at your job, achieve your fitness goals, follow a healthy diet, and maintain your relationships at the same time? Unread self-development books are piling up on your nightstand, and you'd really like to have some time for yourself? We want to achieve so much, yet we always have too little time. The result: We're often more stressed than we'd like—and yet somehow we don't want to do less. So where is the line between healthy productivity and absolute overwhelm? In this article, you'll learn how to optimally deal with stress and achieve your goals without putting yourself under unnecessary stress.
Are you stressed or in flow?
Negative stress vs. positive stress – what's the difference?
Stress is a short-term or long-term, sustained physical and mental tension. This reaction is usually related to an external stimulus such as an impending deadline. In fact, stress doesn't necessarily have to be negative or stressful. Negative stress (distress) only arises when you overexert yourself over an extended period of time and still don't allow yourself any time to recover. Positive stress (eustress) arises when you are challenged but are also up to the situation. In short periods of time and alternated with appropriate recovery phases, positive stress has a performance-enhancing effect. So, it's perfectly fine if your stress level is sometimes elevated. It becomes difficult when you are constantly under pressure and don't allow yourself any breaks. So, if you regularly force yourself to go to the gym after working overtime at the office, only to then prep your gluten-free lunch for the next day with bloodshot eyes, chances are good that your lifestyle promotes a certain level of stress. How intensely you perceive stress also depends on how you evaluate it. [1] A positive attitude toward upcoming challenges can even reduce your body's stress response. In particular, cortisol release is significantly lower during positive stress than during negative stress. So-called eustress not only feels less unpleasant, it even helps you perform better. [2]
Flow State
To perform at your best, you should therefore make sure that you fill your day with challenging activities that you enjoy. A good indicator that challenge, skills and motivation are in harmony with one another is the flow state . We can observe this especially in high-ranking CEOs, competitive athletes and artists. As a combination of laser focus, radical presence and flowing productivity, it leads you into a kind of performance tunnel. This is often associated with a great deal of ease: you work in turbo mode, but you don't have to actively push yourself to stay on track. [3] This can sometimes lead to you forgetting the time and losing sight of other needs. This is not a problem in the short term. However, if sleep deprivation and irregular meals become the order of the day in the long term, it is only a matter of time before your performance crashes.
No awareness, no performance
Whether your days are characterized by stress or flow, if you're so busy hustling that you're no longer able to keep up with your workload, you should take a step back. Only by consciously managing your time and resources can you create the right conditions for consistent and healthy high performance:
- Learn to set priorities: Get clarity about what's most important right now. Whether at work or in your free time, tasks at the bottom of your priority list can be completed later. This allows you to focus on the important things and directly eliminate negative feelings like boredom, pressure, and stress.
- Be hungry, but stay realistic: It's absolutely right to have ambitious goals—as long as they stay within the realm of possibility. When setting an athletic goal, consider not only your physical capabilities but also your time constraints. No one can accomplish everything at once, and unattainable goals bring nothing but frustration.
- Stop comparing yourself: What you need to feel good, productive, and healthy is completely subjective. Your colleague might be able to attend a networking event after 12 hours at the office followed by a boxing workout. But that doesn't mean you have to be able to. Respect your limits and don't compare yourself to others. They can motivate you, but they shouldn't stress you out.
- Find your self-care routine: Spend 15 to 30 minutes a day just taking care of yourself. Autogenic training, reading, yoga, or a short meditation are particularly suitable for this. Journaling can also prevent stress and concentration problems. [4]
- Make your sleep sacrosanct: The golden rule. Studies show that sleep is essential for staying healthy, focused, and productive in the long term. Even a sleep deprivation of two to three hours can significantly impair your mood and performance. [5]
A solid balance between work, play, and me-time, along with the right stress management methods, can help you stay calm even in stressful times. Only with a good balance, healthy goals, and a mindful mindset can you ultimately ensure that your hustle not only stays healthy but also makes you happy.
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Studies:
[1] Crum, A.; Salovey, P.; Achor, S. (2013) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol. 104, No. 4 Rethinking Stress: The Role of Mindsets in Determining the Stress Response. [ https://goodthinkinc.com/wp-content/uploads/CrumSaloveyAchor_RethinkingStress_JPSP2013.pdf ]
[2] Keller, A.; Litzelman, K.; Wisk, L.E.; Maddox, T.; Cheng, E.R.; Creswell, P.D.; Witt, W. P. (2012). Health psychology: official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 31(5), 677–684. Does the perception that stress affects health matter? The association with health and mortality.[ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3374921/ ]
[3] Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. July 2008.
[4] Emmons, RA; McCullough, ME; (2003) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol. 84, No. 2, 377–389. Counting Blessings Versus Burdens: An Experimental Investigation of Gratitude and Subjective Well-Being in Daily Life [ https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/images/application_uploads/Emmons-CountingBlessings.pdf ]
[5] Dinges, DF; Pack, F; Williams, K; Gillen, K.A.; Powell, J. W.; Ott, GE; Aptowicz, C.; Pack, AI (1997) Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennyslvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia 19104-6021, USA. Cumulative sleepiness, mood disturbance, and psychomotor vigilance performance decrements during a week of sleep restricted to 4-5 hours per night. [ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9231952 ]
