Stress is not simply something people feel — it is a physiological state in the brain that directly affects performance. Research, including the work of Dr. Aditi Nerurkar, shows that the moment stress is triggered, the brain shifts into a stress response. The amygdala takes control, and the prefrontal cortex — responsible for rational thinking, decision-making, and perspective — becomes less active.

Stress is not only triggered by major events. It can be something as simple as a colleague coughing repeatedly without covering their mouth, persistent noise, or a small disruption that pulls your attention. Notice when you become distracted, irritated, or fixated on one thing — that is the stress response activating, the amygdala taking over. In that moment, you are no longer operating from clear, considered thinking. Behaviour is driven instead by automatic "survival" responses specialists call fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. This leads to reactive decision-making, impulsive actions, reduced clarity, and difficulty managing priorities, communication, and workload effectively. Remember, itstead of your prefrontal cortex making informed, calm decisions, your amygdala fills your brain with foggy reactive responses.

If this state is not interrupted, the brain remains in a prolonged stress response. Over time, the ability to pause, assess situations, and make intentional decisions reduces significantly. Performance begins to decline — not due to lack of capability, but because individuals and teams are operating in automatic response mode rather than from clear, controlled thinking.