So, one obvious remedy is exercise.
It seems obvious that if our stress-response system has evolved around bouts of intense physical activity in response to environmental stressors, we should include intense physical activity in our daily routines, preferably after each stressful event, to help clear out the harmful byproducts of the stress response.
That, of course, is impossible.
In a world where the whole of the day is one unrelenting string of stressors, where events blend together to form a string of annoyance, fear and anxiety snaking across the entire day, one is never done with the threat, never a reprieve long enough for recovery.
In a life weighed down under a constant threat of chaos, there is no time for exercise, healthy eating, relaxation or meditation.
We first have to get our information lives in order.
Take the email inbox for example. If you’re like most people, you use your inbox as a repository of information, a reminder system, and a place to keep track of pending issues. How often do you have to go back and reread a chain of back-and-forth emails to determine where you are in a task and what needs to be done next?
That’s a lot of extra work, a lot of repetition with no resolution. It’s hard to remember where we are in the process. And it leaves a lot of snakes in the grass. Is it any wonder that we are in a constant state of anxiety, unable to silence the spinning wheel of worry nagging at us, reminding us that we are one step away from chaos, one overlooked email from letting fall something vital through the cracks?
The inbox clearly is not the place for all this. Yet, we use it exactly for that, and with consequences that are not entirely unexpected.
Just as our cognitive systems map new challenges to old circuits with some maladaptive consequences, so do we use existing tools and technologies where they don’t quite belong, with far-reaching aftershocks.
We need proper tools for the job, tools that are in tune with the way our cognitive systems work, tools and practices that align with our natural strengths and shore up our inherent deficiencies.
In our brains, nature has mapped new problems to existing cognitive circuits. We need to understand that and develop new tools and methods to bridge the gap.
Which brings us to information processing by the brain.
