We most commonly hear about stress being bad and to be avoided. It actually turns out stress can be useful in specific, time limited situations – and an unavoidable part of life. As the year winds down, many of us have looming projects and deadlines that create stress: Final exams, annual sales goals and reports due, let alone the social pressures this time of year.
We normally associate stress with negative events:
- Getting to work or school on time
- Completing homework or assignment
- The upcoming math test, ten page paper or work presentation
However, we can be stressed out about positive activities too:
- Going out to coffee with the boy or girl you’re crushing on
- Walking into your dream job interview
- Letting your child walk to school by herself for the first time
Stress, it turns out, can be useful. The Yerkes-Dodson Law posits that individuals perform best when under moderate levels of stress, and perform poorly when there is not enough, or too much stress.
There is significant research that supports this law (enough to make it a law rather than a theory), and you instinctively know this:
- Do you remember taking a test in high school that was anonymous, being told that it was to rate the school and teachers’ performance? Did you study for it? Did you try that hard?
- Do you remember a test you were so anxious about that you couldn’t remember some of the information you had previously memorized?
These two examples show what happens when there is too little, or too much stress. However, if there is a moderate level of stress, it can actually improve performance.
- I have a chapter test in a week: it’s 10% of my grade. It’ll be challenging but I have the time and ability to be ready for this, and I need to score at least a “B” to maintain my grade so I’d better set aside time to do it.
We tend to vilify stress but in reality it can be useful: finding the right amount to help me grow is key. Similarly, if I’m in the gym lifting weights I have to choose the correct dumbbells: if they’re too light, I won’t be challenged, my muscles won’t grow and I’ll stop. If they’re too heavy, I won’t be able to lift them and perhaps even injure myself. If I find the appropriate weight, it’ll be challenging, requiring significant effort and work, and in the end, not only will I become stronger, I’ll have a sense of accomplishment that will propel me to conquer even more difficult challenges I couldn’t have imagined.