PJEndicott

Levels of stress
If we could measure our stress quickly and easily we would find that our degree or level of stress varies over any period of time; from day to day, week to week and month to month. Each day our levels will rise when we encounter difficulties. Examples could include:

• Congestion on our roads or rails service as we travel to and from work.
• Suddenly finding that the deadline for a project has been brought forward to this afternoon.
• A difficult conversation with a client.
• A job interview.
• An appraisal interview with HR or your manager.

The human body constantly surveys the world around it using all five senses in order to spot danger. When it encounters something that the brain perceives could be a source of danger or a threat to life, it quickly pushes out stress hormones to alert all parts of the body - the typical flight or flight response. In normal circumstances our level of stress will fall again as soon as problem is overcome, and our bodily functions will quickly return to normal; our pulse will slow, blood pressure will fall and our breathing pattern will slow down to a regular and deeper rhythm.

The chart below depicts that as the stress or pressure increases (along the bottom axis) our level of ‘Performance’ rises fairly constantly. The point at which productivity is highest is sometimes referred to as the ‘sweet spot’. We can think of this as the point at which pressure or stress is neither too high nor too low and that our performance is good, our ‘Point of Optimum Performance’.

Many people believe that it is acceptable to put themselves under yet more and more pressure, and that their performance will continue increase in a positive manner. Some even believe that this ability is infinite. When we are functioning just under our level of Optimum Performance we do still have the reserves and energy to respond to a new challenge. However, when we push ourselves too far our body will move into physical and mental ‘overdrive’ associate with the Stress Response. Performance falls the further we push ourselves and, if we fail to heed the warning, serious physical and mental damage may result.

The chart below depicts what happens to our performance dependent upon the amount of pressure we place upon ourselves. At first, our performance increases as we increase the pressure to achieve, we then reach a point where no matter how hard we try, our levels of productivity will fall. Where the performance curve hits the bottom axis on the right of the chart is an area known as BURNOUT.

Stress is an insidious enemy of modern-day life. It affects our emotions, behaviour and physical health and can creep up on us almost imperceptively over a period of time. In order to manage stress effectively it is vital that we learn to recognise how we, as individuls, react to stress so that we can spot and deal with stress before it escalates.