Five things my concussion taught me about stress management
In 2017, I sustained a mTBI — mild Traumatic Brain Injury. It significantly reduced my brain’s ability to handle stress as I was stuck at home for weeks with crippling anxiety. Even when I healed enough to leave the house on short walks, the cognitive stimulation of a grocery store was still too much to handle. I returned to work full-time after two months, and after six months was symptom free.
mTBI is the medical term for what we also refer to as a concussion. The injured brain sustains an “energy crisis” and requires more energy for every day cognitive, physical and emotional tasks (source: “mTBI: A Whole Body Condition”, Back in Action Physiotherapy, Whistler BC).
I’m lucky to have healed completely and now, when the overwhelm of a heavy workload or being overcommitted kicks in, I leverage the lessons I learned from my mTBI. My concussed brain simplified the way I experienced the world and provided me with valuable insights on how I function under stress.
Here are my five simplified takeaways:
Don’t resist
When the anxiety came up, it passed faster if I faced it and allowed it to be, rather than if I held on and resisted. It’s as if the fear exacerbated the anxiety. I learned to give in. I even named my mTBI-induced anxiety as a way to separate myself from the experience.
To say “I am stressed right now” feels like a sigh of relief - what if that’s all that’s needed - to admit it so it can start to dissipate? It’s the old cliché of ignoring the elephant in the room. What if the elephant is my stress response and the room is my brain? In my post-mTBI life, I am quick to acknowledge my stress, no matter what the stressor is — life, work, sports training, relationships. I found that when I allowed it to be, I could start to move through it.
Limit clutter
As I was healing, I found I was very sensitive to clutter. Simply put, the more items there were in my visual field, the more there was to cognitively process. Clutter literally exhausted me, so I spent my days in the guest room for my healing. Since it’s furnished simply, there’s literally less to process.
Since my concussion, I try to keep my work space uncluttered. When the overwhelm of “there’s so much to do” starts to bubble up, I assess my work space and see what can be simplified.
I’m not saying I spend my days cleaning, though cleaning can be an excellent way to procrastinate. At the very minimum I move things out of my visual field.
If you’re picturing me focusing at a clean desk but with stacks of papers and to-do lists on the desk behind me, you’re absolutely correct. Hey, it’s a quick fix that works.
Tell someone
I was alone in my healing — literally home alone. I kept in touch with a handful of close friends daily, and the empathy this provided me was a significant factor in my ability to recover.
I found that the little glimmers of feeling understood relieved the pressure I was putting on myself to be ok.
At the office, it’s ok to admit to being stressed. I would take this step even before asking for help or delegating work. Rather than putting on a brave grimace, the simple act of feeling understood acts as a pressure release valve. I feel that people can tell anyway so why pretend? Pick a stress buddy! Support each other, maybe even have a laugh if the workload is completely unrealistic. Perhaps from a more relaxed perspective, you’ll see what needs to be adjusted and can re-focus.
This is similar to not resisting anxiety, when the state of feeling stressed comes up, name it. You’re not alone.
Mind the stimulants
With my struggling mTBI brain, I was easily over stimulated and became acutely aware of what acted as a stimulant in my life. The simple act of putting the kettle on for tea and waiting for it to boil could trigger overwhelm and I’d need to lie down!
Caffeine is an obvious stimulant, but the surprising stimulant was notifications. Every notification is a cognitive interruption. Over the years, I’ve learned to master context switching, however I set boundaries around it — I choose the role notifications play in my life. I close slack and email for brief bursts of focus, I set my phone to airplane mode every evening and don’t come back online in the morning until I feel grounded and ready for the day.
Back to the subject of coffee, however — I would have never believed I’d switch to decaf, but that’s one of my life hacks now. I realized that my routine was to load my system with drugs (caffeine is a stimulant) first thing in the morning. Now I mix decaf in with the full caffeine to give my nervous system a break. This was counter intuitive since usually the busier I was at work, the more coffee I enjoyed. My simplified mTBI brain taught me otherwise.
Manage expectations
As a true Project Management geek, I believe that everything can be managed and this includes expectations. As I was healing, I needed to keep my own expectations in check, and now I’m careful to manage others’ expectations of me. What’s actually urgent? Do I need to respond to that email or text right away? Not if they aren’t expecting a response and that’s an expectation I can manage.
This is linked closely with minding stimulants. Cognitive context switching takes effort and energy. I can accomplish the same amount in 45 minutes of focused work as I can over a day of interruptions, so I safe guard my time to produce the highest quality work with the lowest amount of stress. At first I felt guilty for not responding as soon as I read an email, but now you won’t catch me apologizing for a delay in response unless it’s been well over a full day and/or I actually missed a draft. This pairs well with the User Manual of Me — a practice to describe what it’s like to work with you.
I love to challenge myself both professionally and personally, so stress is going to be a part of life. Why not manage it rather than run from it? These five learnings changed how I run my life and I’ve shared them here in hopes that they’ll help someone else without the deep introspective act of tiptoeing around a broken brain. Take care of you first!
I’d love to hear about your own stress management techniques, or if you’ve been down the path of healing from an mTBI. Connect on LinkedIn or Instagram.
Jessica Evans is the founder and primary consultant of Jocosity Management Solutions. She delights in partnering with clients to streamline their project management processes, and hopefully reduce stressors along the way.
