Dealing with a hellish day by understanding your trigger point

Upon the occasional hellish day, when we simply feel overwhelmed, some executives have found ways to deal with such stressful moments. The key is understanding one’s “trigger point”. As Edward Hallowell puts it in his book Crazy Busy, this is when we move from the C-state (clear, calm, cool, collected, consistent, concentrated) to the F-state (frenzied, frantic, flustered). In the F-state, we “lose it”.

We know it is coming when we feel we are about to snap, or sense we are running with “empty” on the fuel tank gauge. If we understand what can bring us to this point — lack of sleep, too many back-to-back meetings, days of constant interruptions and demands — we can figure out how to avoid flipping.

So, how can we anticipate and deal with such trigger points?

• Getting enough sleep, eating well and regular exercise is a good start.
• Some executives also find helpful in moments of feeling overwhelmed is going for a short walk (even 5–10 minutes) to clear their head.
• Practice mindfulness in the moment and on a daily basis.
• Taking a few minutes between meetings to call a friend or partner.
• Going to get a glass of water.
• Talking to a colleague for a few minutes.

In other words, in the midst of an unrelenting day, they find they can regain their composure by pausing, changing pace, and varying the activity — even if only for a few minutes.

Research on the interplay between our emotions and the neural and endocrine processes provides a fascinating basis for what happens when we hit a trigger point or stressful time in our day.

When we’re in a C state, the rational part of our brain registers our emotional reactions to a situation and can keep those emotions under control. But the emotional brain is a powerful part of our make-up as human beings, and it can run riot in response to stress. A flood of negative emotions means our circuitry breaks down. We lose attention, balance and perspective and make poor choices.