The dreaded stress cycle, if you’ve worked in a stressful job, you will have experienced the stress cycle, probably many times. You know how it goes: you enter into a stressful period, the more stressed you get, the less effective you become leading to lower output and increased worrying, the more worried you get the less sleep you have and the more stressed you become and so on.
I almost went through a mini version of this at the beginning of January. I extended my Christmas break by a week, and came back to a ton of work and tight deadlines. I knew what I was letting myself in for but didn’t anticipate the pressure it would cause.
Luckily i’m an expert in personal is energy management so I have trained myself to recognise stress and get out of it quickly. Recognition is the first step to getting out of the stress loop but getting out of it is a bit harder.
So first let me explain the stress cycle (I found a few definitions of this online after a google search)
The Stress Cycle
When we are in particular stressful periods we often find ourselves trapped in the stress cycle.
A particular stressful period results in poor sleep, which leads to a poor start to the day in the morning, poor performance and productivity throughout the day, mental, physical and/or emotional exhaustion which leads to worry at the end of the day and poor sleep.
We get out of this stress cycle either intentionally through specific techniques or we endure until either the busy period stops, something takes usout of the situation, we become ill or we burn out.
The Stress Cycle
Chronic Stress Cycle
If we stay in the stress cycle over time we slip into the Chronic stress cycle.
Our physiology is only supposed to handle stress for short periods of time. Over a long period of time, our brain gets used to the chemicals our body produces when stressed, we become desensitized to stress and it’s effect on the body. The brain can also become addicted to these stress chemicals and we become addicted to stress and stressful situations. If you feel that you always need to be doing something or find it hard to take a break you’ll understand.
This a downward spiral of stress leads to longer term impacts on our health as well as decreasing performance, disastisfaction and physical symptons. In addition, it becomes increasingly harder to get out of the stress cycle.
Chronic Stress Cycle
Traditionally stress management has been about breaking the stress cycle, which is all well and good, but we are missing a trick.
Just as there is a cycle of stress there is a cycle of energy.
The Energy Cycle
It is possible to have the converse of the stress cycle – the energy cycle. A period of increasing energy, vitality, focus and productivity. I created the Zone Life System to do just that. The System contains practices that negate and reverse the effects of the stress cycle actually increasing your performance, productivity and wellbeing. Take any element of the temporary stress cycle and create a practice to produce the opposite and you will get the following:
The Energy Cycle
In practice it looks like this
- You start the morning off, by energising the body, alleviating any tiredness or symptoms of a poor night’s sleep – With 5 to 20 mins of focused energy techniques you can set yourself up for an energised workday.
- When you start work you set an intention for each piece of work you intend to do – Setting an intention focuses the mind. There are specic tools for getting the mind to focus and concentrate more effectively.
- Manage your energy throughout the day – it is possible to mentally recharge you energy at any time. In the Zone Life System you learn about the best way for you to increase your energyWe teach you some powerful energy renewal techniques
- At the end of the working day use powerful techniques to complete the working day, let go of all the accumulated stress and plan the next day, you re-energise yourself for the rest of the evening.
- Effective sleep, the best way to go to bed is with an empty mind. Happy and complete with the day. For those under pressure who get less than the recommended amount of sleep, or those who just want to learn to sleep better. Learn powerful techniques to increase the quality of your sleep.
Doing these practices over the long term leads to to greater physical, emotional and mental wellbeing only limited by the extent of practice that one brings to it. The opposite of the Chronic stress cycle would look like the Long Term Energy Cycle below
Longer Term Benefits of the Energy Cycle
