The Stress Performance Curve is pretty self-explanatory, the more stressed we get the further along the curve we move. Here is an explanation of the different zones on the curve.
1. Boredom Zone
In the first zone there is very low stress and we are bored. Stay here too long and you will feel the effects of boreout which are just as dangerous as burnout. If you are in this zone in your life or work your mental, emotional, physical & spiritual health is at risk.
Performance in this zone is next to nothing.
2. Comfort Zone
As our stress levels increase we move into our comfort zone, this is manageable stress and is on the way to peak performance. It is comfortable here but there is no growth and if you stay here too long, you will slip back into the boredom zone.
Performance in this zone is higher than in the boredom zone but not at it’s best.
3. Stretch Zone
As pressure & stress increases, we move into the stretch zone. This is where our minds & bodies are being stretched. You know that feeling when you’ve got a lot on your plate but you’re totally in control, you are busy but you are really enjoying it.
This is the zone where your level of stress and your level of performance are at their optimal. This is where everyone wants to be – not stressed, not overloaded, not under pressure but challenged, stretched & at absolute peak performance.
This is where we do our best work.
This is where we live our best lives.
This is where our mind, body and soul are at optimum health.
This is where we excel.
In a Lean Culture, this is where employees are the happiest, most productive and where we should aim to stay. When employees are working in this zone they are healthy, happy, engaged, committed, learning, problem solving and enjoying their roles.
Businesses that support their employees to stay in this zone thrive.
4. Strain Zone
As pressure and stress levels increase we now move into the strain zone. We no longer feel in control and we start to feel under pressure, overloaded, too much on our plate and it’s hard to see the wood from the trees. In this zone we are no longer operating an optimum level – our performance, interest, happiness, health and energy levels decrease and everything starts to go downhill.
Performance in this zone is diminished and reduces every day you stay here.
In this zone we have two choices. One – to continue with the workload, continue taking on pressure and stress and hope it somehow alleviates. This is not a wise choice and we just continue on the slippery slope towards burnout.
The other choice is to STOP.
Stop taking on work, stop taking on activities, stop taking on pressure & stress. Remove as much as we can from our workload. This is a very wise choice and as you start to remove items from your to-do list you will start to move backwards through the Stress Performance Curve.
5. Burnout Zone
When you are in the strain zone and you continue you to take on activities/work and continue to add to your to-do list you will eventually end up in the the burnout zone.
You may think you are getting loads done, that you are ploughing through stuff and you are on your A-game but you are not. You are now back to the level of performance that you were when you were in the boredom zone.
Performance in this zone is next to nothing.
You may be getting things done but there is no time for thinking, no time for creativity, no time for imagination, no time for innovation, no time for rest, relaxation and recuperation, no time for anything only the to-do list. Whilst you are getting to your to-do list, the pace and quality of work is immensely diminished.
In this zone it’s fight or flight and that’s about it.
Not only is this not sustainable but it is also dangerous to your mental, emotional, physical & spiritual health. There is no enjoyment in what you are doing and you wondering is the to-do list ever going to end! You probably become irritable, unfulfilled, unhappy, unproductive and apathetic.
This is a very real and dangerous place to find yourself in.
If you are here, do everything you can to get out of this zone, your health is more at risk than you would imagine.
The Stress Performance Curve is fascinating and the amount of time we spend in each of the zones and how long it takes us to go from one zone to another different for us all.
Here is an insight into my journey through the Stress Performance Curve which I hope I never repeat:
In hindsight I probably started 2021 in the stretch zone. In 2020 I had taken on a serious amount of work outside of my day job and even through I absolutely loved every minute of it, I knew I was stretched.
In early 2021 I started doing webinars and launched my first online course ‘Kickstart Your Personal Strategy’ which is something I am very passionate about and was excited to teach it. I was spending lots of time writing/editing blog posts and on social media. Add this to a very busy day job on top of lockdown and it wasn’t long before I started to move into the strain zone.
Of course all of this is in hindsight and in hindsight we have 20:20 vision!
For most of early 2021, I just felt under pressure all day everyday. There was too much my plate, I had committed to too much and I was working way too many hours.
Looking back at my journalling around that time, all of my healthy habits that I had spend years building to sustain balance in my life were gone. By the time April came around that was it I was in the burnout zone.
If you’ve been burned out or are currently functioning in the burnout zone it is not a pretty place to be.
it’s not enjoyable, it’s not happy, it’s not fulfilling, it’s not productive, it’s not anything that you would actually want for your life. In this zone everything becomes a challenge, the normal day-to-day activities like exercising, socialising, thinking straight – it’s all so overwhelming.
When I finally realised I was burned out I made the decision to STOP. I stopped everything except my day job, I stopped writing blog posts, I stopped creating content, I stopped doing webinars, I stopped social media.
I STOPPED.
When you stop everything and remove workload from your plate, it doesn’t mean that you automatically go back to the optimal performance stretch zone. It takes time for your mind, body and soul to re-adjust, to get out of that fight or flight mode and to come back into some level of normality.
As I started to move through the strain & stretch phase I finally found myself in the comfort phase. I had successfully removed enough from my plate that I felt comfortable with my workload again.
Naively, I thought that was the end of my journey through the Stress Performance Curve but it wasn’t. I was now working on my day job only and not all of passions outside of work. This presented me with 2 problems.
One, I missed writing & creating content etc but I knew I couldn’t take it all on again without going back to the burnout zone.
Two, I was no longer enjoying my role at work and was operating in the boredom zone there. Operating here is just as detrimental to health as the strain & burnout zones. Even though I was busy, I was no longer doing work that challenged, excited or motivated me.
And so, I made the decision to leave my day job to focus solely on and build a business around my passions in life which are Lean Culture/Strategy, Writing & Travel Photography.
Knowing about and understanding the symptoms of each of the zones of the Stress Performance Curve goes a long way to ensuring you stay in the stretch zone or at least not too far away from it!
Human beings are not machines, we all have limits and going past those limits damages our most valuable asset, our health!
Where are you on the Stress Performance Curve?
How long have you been there?
Are you aware when you are heading into the Strain and Burnout Zones?
Are you aware when you are heading into the Comfort and Boredom Zones?
How do you keep yourself at peak performance in the Stretch Zone?
How do you keep your team and business at peak performance in the Stretch Zone?
Thanks for reading,
Siobhain
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