Recognise good stress from not so good stress

What is the difference you ask?

Well it’s really very simple.

A little bit of stress every now and then is good for you.

The kind of stress that motivates, invigorates, inspires, gets you moving towards your goals - that is good stress.

For me, as I neared my final years of high school, the way I created good stress was by leaving my assignments right til the last minute to be completed. It generated a lot of stress but it also created an environment of action for me. I was in a high flow of producing, creating, writing and forming ideas.

Fast forward to today, it’s school holidays, I have three children at home and taken the liberty to have a few days off work, but it doesn’t make for a peaceful environment.

I noticed my levels of stress were rising to a point I would call not so good.

If you don’t have this 'I feel' barometer though, how will you recognise the signs?

You can listen to your heart, yes yes I know it’s a Roxette song but it’s also so true. Try it.

Listen - really listen - for what your heart beat is doing.

Next you can monitor what you’re saying to yourself.

And ask yourself am I productive and effective in this moment?

If the answer is yes, then it’s good stress and if the answer is no, then it’s not so good stress.

You could get yourself a smart watch, make sure it is one that monitors both your stress level and your heart rate.

It will probably work best as a retrospective exercise at this point because while the smart watch collects data in real time, you need something to compare it to, so over time, it well produce a graph.

You can look back and review the week that was and recognise what were the elements that were different that created those spikes in my heart rate and in my stress levels.

Once I recognise what the difference was I can adjust.

I can create the environment that will best suit me to produce good stress. I just have to be introspective and look at what works and what doesn’t work.

I look forward to hearing what ways you manage your environment for good stress.