In The Now

How often do you feel pressured about meeting deadlines, fighting for resources, passing an exam, making a presentation, getting buy-in, or simply just having a conversation with a stranger? If I were to continue, I believe the list of things that could stress us out would go on and on. Have you ever wondered why some people seem to handle pressure better than others? Is stress undesirable at all?

Stress usually appears as a perception of challenges. If life is challenge free, living would be dull and on autopilot, which doesn’t sound desirable for our brain health. Some studies suggested that the lack of stress in life may even accelerate cognitive aging faster than our biological age. In fact, we need appropriate stress to live a good life. So, what is the trick to keep the stress level manageable?

Living in the now is a state where we put our attention to the present without dwelling on the past nor worrying about the future. Engaging fully in the moment gives us space to enjoy the process and not overthinking about the outcome. As we immerse in the current activity, flow happens naturally where actions and awareness come together and create a sense of control over the experience.

Having control over the situation gives us confidence and motivation to strive, thereby practicing flow is beneficial to our stress management. To enable a state of flow, we could deliberately minimize distractions from our phone, screen time on social media and multitasking. The act of switching between tasks quickly indeed causes extra stress to the brain due to overstimulation. As a result, higher productivity is an illusion while lower efficiency is what could happen.

Getting in the zone not only reduces stress but raises a sense of achievement. Living in the now is an alternative coping mechanism to challenges in life. Stress is sometimes induced by how we react to people or circumstances. Learning to be mindful about our thoughts and emotions keeps us calm and composed. It takes effort to cultivate mindfulness. Practice doesn’t make perfect but progress surely and steadily. As our mindfulness elevates, regulating our emotions becomes easier and so does our concentration, which could help us tap into the flow state with more ease.

Doing what we enjoy is another way to achieve flow with less effort. Regular reviews of your strengths and passion uncover new learnings about yourself. Alternatively, you could work with a professional coach to unlock your potential. Come talk to us at HIbodhi only if you want the best for yourself.

您是否經常因為擔心要完成任務、爭奪資源、通過考試、公開演講、尋找支持或只是與陌生人交談而感到壓力？ 可以想像下去，為我們帶來壓力的事情相信可會不斷增加。 您有曾經想過為什麼有些人似乎比其他人更能應付壓力？ 壓力是否必定不受歡迎呢？

壓力通常被認知為一種挑戰。 如果人生沒有挑戰，生活就會變得乏味且處於自動駕駛狀態，這聽起來對大腦的健康不太有利。 一些研究指出，生活中如缺乏壓力，大腦的認知老化速度可能比我們的生理年齡更快。 事實上，我們需要適當的壓力生活才會過得美好。 那麼，保持壓力水平可控的秘訣會是怎樣？

活在當下是一種我們把注意力集中在當下的狀態，而不是沉溺於過去，也不擔心未來。 充分參與當下，讓我們有空間享受過程，而不是過度思考結果。 當我們沉浸在當前的活動中，心流 (flow) 自然而然地發生，使行動和意識能結合在一起，並產生出對活動體驗的控制感。

掌控局勢會給我們信心和動力去努力，因此練習心流有利於我們的壓力管理。 為了實現心流狀態，我們可以刻意減少手機、社交媒體上的螢幕時間和多工處理 (multitasking) 的干擾。 在項目之間快速切換的行為，其實會因過度刺激而給大腦帶來額外的壓力。 因此，期望多工處理會有較高的生產力只是一種幻覺，而較低的效率則是可能發生的情況。

進入心流狀態不僅可以減輕壓力，還可以提高成就感。 活在當下是應對生活挑戰的另一個有效機制。 壓力有時是從我們對人或環境的自身反應而引起的。 學會留意自己的想法和情緒可以讓我們保持冷靜和沉著。 培養正念 (mindfulness) 則需要努力。不斷練習不會變得十全十美，但一定可穩定進步。 隨著我們的正念提升，調節情緒的能力會變得更加容易，我們控制注意力也同時變得得心應手，並可以幫助我們輕鬆地進入心流狀態。

做自己喜歡做的事是另一種輕鬆達到心流的方法。 定期回顧優勢和熱情可以發現關於自己的新知識。 或者，您可以與專業教練合作去釋放內在潛力。 如果您想為自己爭取最好的，請來 HIbodhi 與我們交談。