What to Do When Your Brain Locks Up Under Pressure

For years, I’ve responded to international disasters around the globe. I know what its like to try to do important work in high-pressure environments with high-stakes consequences. Some of us know how to see opportunities when others are standing around with their hands over their mouths in shock. In today’s post I thought I’d give you a behind-the-scenes view into how I think under pressure. 

I think we’ve all had the experience of walking down the street in a foul mood and running into another person or, even worse, an unforgiving lamp post. The neuroscience of what’s going on when you do that is fascinating. When we are frightened, angry, or sad, it takes our executive functioning off-line and our brain goes into survival mode. We are operating from the well-known “fight or flight” response. While this can be helpful if you’re trying to avoid a wild boar, it can be detrimental if you’re trying to problem solve because it produces tunnel vision, tunnel hearing, and tunnel thinking. It is a one-track process to get us safe. It is very fast (which can be helpful) but it takes the first option available (which can be very detrimental.)

Positive emotions are like a wide-angle lens for your pre-frontal cortex (PFC). The PFC is the part of our brain that processes executive functioning. It is a high-power processor that can consider various options and even develop new options. According to research by Barbara Fredrickson, the emotion of joy can push limits, improve creativity, and promote play. Play can lead to further innovation. The emotion of interest can lead to exploration. Contentment allows us to savor and integrate solutions. Dr. Fredrickson’s Broaden and Build Theory shows that positive emotion can broaden our vision and improve problem solving. 

This doesn’t mean that I play during disasters. It means that I face a positive direction. Rather than being consumed by what’s wrong, I focus on the fantastic contributions of people who refuse to give up. I look in the direction that we want to go. I look for opportunities to laugh, to love, to celebrate, and my brain stays activated and we get things done.