A certain amount of stress helps us stay challenged in our work
Summary
- A certain amount of stress helps us stay challenged in our work
Details
- If what we are working on is completely stress free then we get bored.
- if the stress is too much we get overwhelmed, but the right amount of stress keeps us interested
References
Quotes
Let’s now explore the brain and stress. Figure 1.2 is based on the work of neuroscientists Avis Hains and Amy Arnsten from the Department of Neurobiology at Yale University. It shows the performance-arousal curve, which is a new twist on something that has been around for many, many years. Have you ever done a really boring job? If so, what was your performance like? I’m guessin it was pretty crap, right? That’s because your brain needs a certain amount of stress (we scientists call this ‘arousal’) in order for it to become interested in performing (but not too much, or we become overloaded). Stress follows the Goldilocks principle – it can’t be too little or too much; it’s got to be just right! When stress levels are just right, we call that the ‘zone of peak performance’