So many people stress into the “bad” camp when in actual fact you need a certain level of stress to perform. Imagine the relaxation you feel lying on a beach – it would be pretty hard to get things done if that was your constant state.

How do I identify “good” stress?

Generally speaking – where a certain level of stress is related to a particular activity or activities we think of that as good stress. Looking at this as a positive to help you get specific tasks done will generally get some good results. An example may be preparing for a meeting with a reasonably tight deadline.

So what about the “bad” stress?

Think of bad stress occurring when it’s more difficult to attach the stress to a particular task. All of a sudden you have so many things causing you stress that you start to go into a state of what may feel like complete overwhelm. If this is not dealt with properly, the next stage can be anxiety and then in the most severe form depression.

It can be a slippery slope from “good” to “bad” stress……..

So when we keep achieving more good things thanks to our “good” stress it’s easy to get a little addicted to that feeling and to keep pushing it a little harder. Fortunately you aren’t completely productive one day and then depressed the next but the downside is it can make it harder to see what’s happening until it’s too late.

So what’s a quick check to avoid slipping from “good” to “bad” stress?

Being aware of whether you are feeling stress related to a particular task or just feeling overwhelmed in general is generally a pretty good check-in most people can do. If you are feeling as though you have gone into the overwhelm phase it’s probably a good a idea to look into getting some coaching.

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If you’d like to find out more, join the conversation in our next open workshop.

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