Does fear do this to you?

The Daily Drip

As soon as that feeling of fear sets in, a chemical reaction is already happening.

Your metabolism slows down.

Blood moves to your legs.

Your vision narrows and focuses.

The only thing your brain is thinking about is the threat.

What's happening?

Yep, you guessed it. It's the classic "fight or flight" response.

It's happening because it used to be useful once upon a time. That biological response meant that our bodies were ready to run or fight off an adversary. All resources were being allocated to the parts of our bodies that mattered. And then, eventually, the threat would disappear or move on. Life continued. Our biologies shifted back to their normal state.

Today, sitting in an office chair, this stress response doesn't have the same benefits.

It doesn't disappear like it used to. So we stay in that stressed state longer.

And guess what happens when your metabolism is turned low for an extended period of time? Weight gain. Yeah, surprise surprise.

There are other impacts, like heart disease (the most common cause of death in America right now) but I'm sure you could take a good guess at what they are.

Creativity is another casualty of chronic stress. Remember how our brains are focused on the threat? That means that other parts of our brain, like the cells required for creative and abstract thinking, are less active.

If you do creative work for a living, or if you are responsible for solving challenging problems that require innovation--you need to monitor your chronic stress.

"Just push through" isn't a thing. Sure, there are techniques that military units use for "stress inoculation" but going to war is a little impractical, here.

It's not just task management, time management, or resource management.

It's stress management.

You are accountable to your biology.

Go for a run and clear that cortisol from your bloodstream.

Call a friend and set up an hour to be silly so you can get a hit of dopamine.

It's not a fair fight. The world has a way of knocking things out of whack. But it's still up to you to manage your biology.