The Eye-Opening Journey to Embracing Stress in My Life

In our fast-paced world stress is often perceived as a badge of honor, although we are taught that stress is something negative.

Stress leads to the production of cortisol and if the neurotransmitter is not broken down again (e.g. by running away from an aggressive mammoth), it can cause damage to your health. Therefore, my mindset always has been: that stress is something bad.

But this mindset changed recently and since I embrace stress in my life.

Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash

How I learned to embrace stress

In the second half of 2023, I had a lot of meetings - more than half of my working time was spent in meeting rooms and video calls. I was very busy and had to compress my other tasks into the odd time blocks available between the meetings.

But it was during the quieter time, starting in the second half of December that the amount of meetings dropped significantly. At first, I thought I would bring all my tasks forward by a huge chunk: less time in meetings means more time for other tasks right?

But this wasn’t the case.

Actually, my motivation was low. At first, I thought, that I had overextended myself the past couple of months and that there wasn’t just much energy left to dive head-first into the daunting tasks already waiting on my to-do lists for some time.

So I decided to fill the last week before Christmas with some shallow work and busy work. To be at least somewhat productive.

After some recharging during the holidays, the motivation would come back.

In the new year when I started working again, most of my colleagues were still on holiday, so there were not many meetings either at the beginning of January. I had a bunch of time to bring the daunting tasks forward and now I would have energy again.

The thing was: I still wasn’t motivated. I couldn’t tell why, but I did not feel motivated or energized to start tasks. It was shallow work, yet again.

I thought, that it would just take some time to reboot after the holidays to load the information about all the projects, open tasks, preparations to be made, etc. into my working memory. This was indeed the case, but there was one more thing: I did not have sharp deadlines or meetings to prepare for.

I did not have the pressure to deliver results.

I wasn’t stressed, but oddly the lack of stress and motivation stressed me on a different level: Usually, I am a very productive person and I like being productive. Therefore, I felt a bit off. I felt a bit like a failure.

But thankfully in the second week of January things changed again. The first meetings were scheduled and deadlines were coming up. I had again a wee bit of pressure, but this was enough to catapult my motivation forward.

I started to work on all different kinds of tasks because I knew that I had to. If I would keep on slacking around with busy work, I wouldn’t be able to hold the deadlines.

I learned, that I need pressure and a certain feeling of stress to be fully motivated.

Whenever I feel stressed in the future I will think back on this and embrace it: it is my chance to get a boost in motivation and productivity.

But I also made some changes to my productivity toolset to overcome those situations with low external pressure in the future.

5 methods to stay productive in times of low pressure

Timeboxing

This is a great technique, especially for those tasks prone to be moved down a to-do list. If your motivation is on the lower side, just pick up the task scheduled for the particular time and start working (starting to work often leads to a boost in motivation).

For those unfamiliar with the process or those looking for a quick refresher, here’s a brief summary of the method (but please feel free to skip ahead).

Timeboxing is a time management technique that involves allocating a fixed, predetermined amount of time to a specific task or activity. The goal is to increase productivity and focus by setting clear boundaries on the time spent on each task. One practical way to implement timeboxing for tasks is by creating calendar entries - essentially blocking off time.

Timeboxing comes with the following benefits:

• It promotes a sense of urgency and prevents overthinking.
• It supports you in prioritizing tasks.
• It separates (i) the planning of work and (ii) the actual work.

I’ve been using timeboxing for almost two years now. It is definitely a great productivity tool, but you shouldn’t over-plan - leave some room where you don’t pre-plan a task. It is your flexibility corridor you can use once the chaos of reality unfolds and you have to move your timeboxes to make room for an urgent meeting.

Just start working

Ever found yourself staring at a task, feeling like it’s this colossal challenge? The task is seeming so daunting that you just don’t want to start.

We’ve all been there.

The thing is, getting started might demand a bit of energy to break through that initial mental barrier. But, once you take that plunge, you’d be surprised how quickly motivation kicks in.

I’ve faced those daunting, seemingly boring tasks too, only to discover they’re not as tough or dull as my mind made them out to be once I started working on them. It often is just about overcoming that mental hurdle.

Even when you’re aware that a task isn’t as challenging or dull as your initial perception (or as Daniel Kahnemann would put it, your System 1) suggests, there’s still a struggle for your rational side (System 2) to persuade your instinctive thinking (System 1) of this reality.

So there might still arise situations where you cannot convince yourself of just starting to work.

Plan ahead

Do you ever find it difficult to start certain tasks, lacking the motivation to dive in? You might just be in “planning mode” instead of “working mode” at the moment. It’s okay to recognize that sometimes your brain is more into strategizing than executing, and that’s where the magic of planning takes the spotlight.

What do I mean by “planning mode”?

I’ve discovered firsthand that splitting the planning phase from the actual work significantly boosts productivity. There are times when your energy levels just don’t align with certain tasks’ demands. Yet, with a bit of foresight, you can still organize upcoming days. Throw in some self-imposed deadlines, and you’ve got a recipe for efficiency!

This approach has two benefits:

• If you cannot convince yourself to get some work done right now, you are still being productive by planning your future work.
• Furthermore, your future (actually working) self will thank you. Jump into your work seamlessly without the burden of overthinking how to tackle the task.

However, you mustn’t rush the planning. Visualize your future self: what is the first step? Which information is needed to get the job done? If your plan is not actionable, your future self might just ditch it.

Work things off your someday-maybe list

This is straightforward: If you don’t experience enough pressure to start the big topics, have a look at your “someday-maybe” list (as recommended by the Getting Things Done methodology).

You can still utilize your time productively and get some things done, lurking there on the list for quite some time.

Plan/have your ideal week

I’ve read about this method multiple times now, but I never applied it myself. This changed this January: I took an afternoon and brainstormed what my “ideal week” would look like. I started by allocating time to different activities:

• Sleep
• Work at my day job
• Quality time with my family
• …

After allocating the available 168 hours each week, I crafted a spreadsheet featuring 7 columns (one for each day) and 49 rows (representing each half-hour plus titles). I color-coded cells and assigned different categories. I began with my ideal sleep routine and regular working hours and then added the other activities. Soon I had filled most of the cells. As the cells filled up, I intentionally left a flexibility corridor of 14 hours where no specific plans were made—ensuring some breathing room even in my ideal week.

I then honed in on my day job, aligning it with the predetermined framework of my ideal week. I further subdivided my workday into additional categories:

• Deep work: When do I usually have the highest energy levels?
• Shallow work: When am I usually low on energy?
• …

After investing some hours, I had a spreadsheet depicting how my ideal week might unfold.

Will I ever experience such a week?

Probably not.

Yet, that doesn’t diminish its value, as the ideal week serves as a practical guide to identify the most suitable times for specific tasks throughout the day. This proves particularly useful when motivation is lacking – just consult your ideal week for that time of day and dive into the task.

Motivation might just follow suit.

---

Embracing stress once it is there and having the right systems in place for those situations where it isn’t is continuing my productivity journey.

Thank you for reading!

What is your take on stress? Do you need stress for maximum-level motivation or does it hinder your progress? Please let me know in the comments. I am already thrilled to hear your thoughts!