"Choking"

I read an interesting article on "choking" yesterday. This is the all too familiar feeling of failing just when it matters the most--flubbing a job interview, missing a winning shot, failing an important test. You know the feeling....

Why does it happen? Worry apparently. Worrying makes it harder to access the information needed to perform and impairs the brain networking, creating information logjams. Cool. Try not to worry in a pressure situation....right.

Those who have the most potential to succeed are actually more likely to choke. These people rely more on working memory and prefrontal cortex areas of the brain. Under pressure, this region of the brain doesn't function as well as it should. Students who are less likely to use this region actually are less impacted by pressure. (This doesn't mean they will perform better, just that their performance will be less affected by pressure!)

What to do? Practice under pressure. Focus on the outcome, not the mechanics. Don't dwell on past failures. All three of these strategies can help deal with the stressful situation.

One suggestion I particularly liked was....WRITE....writing about worries and stressful events can help increase working memory and prevent other parts of your life from distracting you under stress. A mere 10 minutes of writing before a big event or regularly for 10 minutes a week boosts brain power!

All of this comes from a book by Sian Beilock, a University of Chicago psychologist and his book, Choke.