|
By Anna Radachy  Stress is something we can all empathize with, regardless of where we are or what we are doing with our life. Every day there are a million things that will stress us out, delivering things to your boss, forgetting your lunch, unexpected news. And then there are days that we will dread, knowing that the event will come and stress us out undeniably. I am notorious for making a mountain out of a molehill, so when I saw the “How to stay calm when you know you’ll be stressed” TED talk, I figured it was meant for me. The talk, given by Daniel Levitin, a neuroscientist and writer who is affiliated with the Keck Graduate Institute, was part of the TEDxLondon event. He starts off by speaking about how, in the rush of the moment, he forgot his keys and locked himself out. He blames this act on his hippocampus and his spatial memory, which was really good for our ancestors to use to remember where freshwater could be found or where big fish swim but isn’t so good for finding our keys or our phone that moves around constantly. Admittedly, I liked this part, as it in some way absolved me of responsibility the next time I can’t find my keys or purse! Then, he discusses the concept of prospective hindsight and doing a pre-mortem of everything that could go wrong and preparing yourself for it. He again refers to his keys, and how this can be solved by designating a hook for his keys and a bin for his shoes so that they live in the same place, and when he needs them he can find them. This creates organization to take away some of the stress on days you know you will be stressed. Levitin ends his talk with the simple statement that “we are all going to fail at some point” and he is right. We will all be a little unorganized, we will all be a little stressed, but that doesn’t mean the world will stop spinning. So, remember to put your keys on the hook and write your to-do’s on a list! 
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
RSS Feed