A recent NYT article talks about new studies on the effects of stress. The subject studies involved chronically-stressed rats, so some could say that the results do not apply directly to humans, “who have better mental hardware.” There is some merit to that, of course, but books like Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
One of the key points from the study is that
… the rats’ behavioral perturbations were reflected by a pair of complementary changes in their underlying neural circuitry. On the one hand, regions of the brain associated with executive decision-making and goal-directed behaviors had shriveled, while, conversely, brain sectors linked to habit formation had bloomed.
In other words, the rodents were now cognitively predisposed to keep doing the same things over and over, to run laps in the same dead-ended rat race rather than seek a pipeline to greener sewers. “Behaviors become habitual faster in stressed animals than in the controls, and worse, the stressed animals can’t shift back to goal-directed behaviors when that would be the better approach,” Dr. Sousa said. “I call this a vicious circle.”
That is, there is an irony in that just when one most needs problem-solving abilities, the impact of chronic stress instead keeps one plugging away at non-solutions, sometimes not even recognizing that a problem needs to be solved or that the methods being used are not effective.
The article also notes that
In humans, though, the brain can think too much, extracting phantom threats from every staff meeting or high school dance, and over time the constant hyperactivation of the stress response can unbalance the entire feedback loop.
That is, we tend to create stress for ourselves: we are problem-solving creatures, by nature, and we will often turn a non-problem into a problem so that we have something for our minds to work on.
Okay, so what? What can one do? I’ve dealt with this before in an article entitled keep stress from breaking your brain. That article provides some tips on how to solve a problem when stress has heretofore hindered you from solving it.
And, while we can’t always avoid having stress brought upon us, we can work against having chronic stress by regular exercise, good nutrition (and the use of vitamin supplements), and the simple act of taking time out each day to express gratitude. The latter is something many of us forget to do regularly, but it can make a world of difference. Even when you think your world has gone to hell (and maybe it has), you can still list things to be thankful for, and doing so can help reduce your stress.
Perhaps the most important thing you can do for avoiding chronic stress, though, is to be a proficient task manager. I don’t mean that in the cranking widgets, bullshit way that David Allen worshipers so often talk about. I mean taking each thing you face and asking “does it work against (or for) any of my key values?” What about goals? Is it really important? Is it really urgent? Of course, when you ask these questions, you must realize that “important” and “urgent” are subjective terms, and that you can overrate/underrate either one if you are not relating them to the big picture (values and goals).
Note that I am not speaking against David Allen’s system, because you can make it work just as well, maybe better, than a Covey-type system, provided that you put each task in perspective. I have found that people often use GTD as a means of managing lists instead of managing their lives. Used properly, it is a great system. Used improperly, it can help push you into the chronic stress mode … and the same applies to Covey’s system.
Your thoughts?