Stress Works Your Core [Executive Functions]
Bedraggled but still hanging in there! (photo by Adam Sage)
Right now, pretty much everybody I know with any connection to the academic calendar is working like a demon. The rapid descent into packed schedules, end-of-semester grading, and deadlines is stressful, to say the least!
And now y’all are, like, “Tell me something I DIDN’T already know!”
I’m not going to do that right now.
Instead, here’s corroboration of something you already know—information that I hope will give you a modicum of comfort (albeit through gritted teeth!).
According to a 2016 meta-analysis of relevant studies, acute stress* is linked to decreases in several core executive functions. Our working memory, cognitive flexibility, and cognitive inhibition (the ability to choose to ignore or pay attention to information or stimuli) all suffer when we experience acute stress. And as working memory load increases, so does stress-related impairment. For those of us who already struggle with executive function (for whatever reason), stress cannot be helpful!
So—if you’re more easily distracted right now, having more trouble shifting gears between tasks, or…what was I saying? Oh, yeah—remembering things from one moment to the next—science is here to tell you that yeah, it’s not just you!
What can you do to help offset the cognitive effects of stress? These tactics may be familiar, but if you are like me, it never hurts to hear a reminder or a nudge. Here are three ideas:
Take more notes than usual so you have a paper trail to remind you of (for example) what happened in a meeting;
“Park” distracting thoughts and intrusive to-do list actions in your notes app, a computer file, or on a piece of paper;
Consider incorporating meditation into your work life. Even a 2-minute reset can help, especially if you have a guided meditation with someone whose voice you find calming. (I have gotten great results with this tactic. My favorite pre-coaching session meditation is the “attunement” guided meditation on Chani Nicholas’s app—something about the warmth of her voice helps me feel even more grounded than I think I would feel based on the meditation’s content alone.
Stress, overwork, and overwhelm are real, and they are baked in (to follow the low-key hell metaphor I began with) to this oppressive capitalist system that extracts as much labor as possible from its workers. Extractive capitalism sucks, but since most of us can’t totally refuse to engage with its requirements, we must look for ways to offset them—and be gentle with ourselves and each other when we struggle with the cognitive effects of stress.
Would one-on-one support help you initiate and finish tasks in ways you can be proud of? Coaching can help, and academic institutions are increasingly open to allowing employees to use professional development funds for coaching (as well as for editorial assistance). If you’d like to book a free exploration session with me, please get in touch!
*The cognitive effects of chronic stress are notoriously difficult to study, so this analysis focused on acute stress, which is apparently still tricky to isolate but is way easier to control and measure.
Citation (in APA style because somehow it feels wrong to put this one in Chicago style!):
Shields, G. S., Sazma, M. A., & Yonelinas, A. P. (2016). The effects of acute stress on core executive functions: A meta-analysis and comparison with cortisol. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 68, 651–668.
