Tunnel Vision
Reaction vs. Response
When presented with stress and overwhelm, I find myself presented with two potential perspectives. I sometimes feel restless, anxious, and full of fear—prone to react. Other times I am enjoying my work/life balance and seeing meaning in the daily work I am doing—more intentional in my responses to tasks and people. The more stressed I am, the more challenging it is to be kind to people, stay emotionally regulated, and handle unexpected problems.
According to brain science, when uncertainty kicks in, we start to lose the broader perspective. The amygdala releases adrenaline into our system, and fight or flight mode kicks in. This can happen varying degrees, and the more severe the uncertainty, the narrower our view gets until full on "tunnel vision" vision kicks in. The ultimate goal of this response is to give us what we need to move from uncertainty to certainty.
What I know (frontal cortex) starts to be overshadowed by what I am feeling. If you've studied the MBTI, they call this "in the grip", you are in shock, and you are focused on survival. This can be a good thing, as often we need the gained focus to get out of an emergency.
But what if this low grade "loss of focus" continues, with the amygdala releasing that adrenaline hormone into our system all of the time? This prolonged stress will make it tough to make decisions without fear, physiologically, emotionally and rationally. We need things each day that keep this potential response at bay, that help us keep perspective.
Learning to H.A.L.T
While we can’t always remove the project or circumstance that is creating tension, we can check in with our physical bodies and evaluate four “risk states” that affect your behavior. As we lose perspective and become more focused on a certain problem to solve, our ability to stay engaged worsens if we are hungry, angry, lonely or tired.
Hungry: During events I often forget to eat. When I am running around facilitating it’s easy to just drink water and snack on pistacios…but if I do this about 2/3rds of the way through the event my brain stops working well. This is SUCH a basic thing but I am always forgetting to do this during a busy event. When I am diligent to eat for fuel and hydrate, I am much more prone to stay fully engaged and avoid tunnel vision.
Angry: I’ve heard anger described as a “dashboard on a car." It has lights and indicators to give you insight into how much fuel is left, and what is happening. It doesn’t drive the car, but it lets you know how you are doing…emotions give us this insite as well. You can take a moment to assess your body—and give yourself a way to release that. Punch a pillow, sit in your car and listen to yoga music and breathe, or yell in an empty room.
Lonely: It can be tough to admit this feeling as we want to problem solve it through people. Often when we are deep in a task and up to our neck in stressors we need the human connection to release the stress and close out the stress cycle. Take a moment to have a 5 minute conversation with a co-worker or call a loved one.
Tired: When pushing on a project I can keep going well past my energy reserves into the evening. The downside is we aren’t necessarily effective—we lose the creativity and drive and might just need to sleep. The lack of sleep we can live with, according to Dr. Matthew Walker in his book “Why We Sleep” talks about sleep deprivation building up in our body. Regular rhythms of sleep help setup our minds and bodies to face the challenges of the day.
Want more on stress and brain chemistry?
Look up "Emotional Intelligence 2.0" by Travis Bradberry & Jean Greaves & The Triune Brain model by Dr. Paul MacLean
