Do You Know How to Balance the Scale?

Introduction

Not all stress is the enemy.

In fact, some stress is essential for growth, performance, and even happiness. The key is understanding the difference between good stress and bad stress — and learning how to live in the space where stress strengthens you instead of breaking you down.

What Is Good Stress? (Eustress)

“Good stress,” known as eustress, is the kind that energises and motivates you. It’s the flutter in your stomach before a big presentation. The excitement before starting a new job. The push that helps you meet a deadline or train for a race.

This type of stress:

• Feels challenging but manageable
• Is usually short-term
• Improves focus and performance
• Leaves you feeling accomplished afterward

When your brain senses a challenge, it activates the stress response system — involving areas like the amygdala and the hypothalamus — and releases hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. In small, controlled amounts, these hormones sharpen attention and boost productivity.

Examples of good stress include preparing for a promotion, planning a wedding, starting a fitness journey, or taking on a new responsibility. Good stress stretches you — it doesn’t suffocate you.

What Is Bad Stress? (Distress)

“Bad stress,” or distress, is what happens when demands feel overwhelming, relentless, or out of your control.

Unlike eustress, distress:

• Feels heavy, draining, or hopeless
• Persists for long periods
• Affects sleep, mood, and physical health
• Impairs concentration and decision-making

Chronic stress keeps cortisol levels elevated. Over time, this can affect your immune system, digestion, cardiovascular health, and mental wellbeing.

Common sources include ongoing financial strain, toxic workplaces, relationship conflict, caregiver burnout, and unresolved trauma. Bad stress doesn’t motivate — it depletes.

Good Stress vs Bad Stress: At a Glance

Why We Need Some Stress

The human nervous system is designed for fluctuation. According to the Yerkes-Dodson Law, performance increases with physiological arousal (stress) — but only up to a point. Too little stress leads to boredom and low motivation. Too much leads to anxiety and burnout.

• Too little stress: Under-stimulated, disengaged
• Optimal stress: Focused, energised, productive
• Too much stress: Overwhelmed, exhausted, unwell

The goal isn’t zero stress. The goal is regulated stress.

The Grey Zone: Chronic Low-Grade Stress

Not all distress announces itself dramatically. Many people — particularly high-functioning professionals — live in a state of chronic low-grade stress that doesn’t feel extreme but is quietly depleting. You’re functional. You’re managing. But you’re running on empty.

Signs you may be in the grey zone:

• You feel fine during the day but crash on weekends
• You can’t remember the last time you felt genuinely rested
• You push through fatigue rather than recovering from it
• Joy, creativity, and connection feel like luxuries you can’t afford

This is the most dangerous kind of stress — precisely because it’s so easy to ignore. The body is sending signals long before burnout arrives. The skill is learning to hear them early.

Understanding the Cortisol Recovery Arc

When stress hits, your body releases cortisol — a hormone that prepares you for action. What most people don’t realise is that cortisol doesn’t disappear the moment the stressor passes. It has a physiological half-life, meaning it takes time to clear from your system.

• A short burst of stress: cortisol clears within 20-60 minutes of the trigger resolving
• Prolonged or repeated stress: cortisol remains elevated for hours, sometimes into the following day
• Chronic stress: cortisol baselines rise, the system loses its ability to reset, and the body stays in a state of alert

This is why sleep is the single most powerful stress recovery tool available. During deep sleep, the body actively metabolises stress hormones and resets the HPA axis (your body’s stress regulation system). Cutting sleep short doesn’t just leave you tired — it prevents cortisol clearance and compounds the next day’s stress load.

Signs You’re in the Healthy Zone

You’re likely in a balanced stress state when:

• You feel challenged but capable
• You recover well after busy periods
• You sleep reasonably well
• You have moments of joy and connection
• You can switch off when needed

Resilience is not about avoiding stress — it’s about recovering from it.

How to Shift from Distress to Eustress

When stress becomes chronic, small daily resets can help restore balance

Regulate Your Nervous System

Slow breathing, light stretching, cold water on the face, and time in nature stimulate the vagus nerve — the body’s primary rest-and-digest pathway. The vagus nerve is the main conduit between your brain and your body’s calming system. When activated, it signals the body to move out of fight-or-flight mode. Even 5-10 minutes of slow nasal breathing (inhale 4 counts, exhale 6-8 counts) measurably lowers cortisol.

Break Big Problems into Small Wins

Overwhelm shrinks when tasks become manageable steps. Each completed step generates a small hit of dopamine that builds momentum and positive stress.

Protect Recovery

Sleep, hydration, regular meals, and movement are non-negotiable foundations. Think of them as your stress buffer — the fuller the buffer, the more pressure you can handle before tipping over.

Reframe the Narrative

Ask: Is this a threat — or a challenge? Research shows that viewing stress as a challenge (rather than a threat) changes the physiological stress response itself — reducing vasoconstriction and improving cognitive performance under pressure.

Finding Your Personal Balance

Balance looks different for everyone. A high-performing executive may thrive on intensity. A caregiver may need more calm. The right level of stress is deeply individual. Ask yourself:

• When do I feel most energised?
• What drains me consistently?
• Do I recover after pressure — or stay in it?
• What signals tell me I’m tipping into burnout?

Your body always sends early warning signs — tension, headaches, irritability, fatigue, digestive issues. Listening early prevents breakdown later.

A Note on the Workplace and Organisational Stress

Stress is not only a personal management challenge — it is also a systemic one. While individual resilience tools matter, they are most effective when the environment supports recovery.

Workplace factors that create chronic distress include:

• Unclear expectations or constantly shifting priorities
• Workloads that consistently exceed capacity
• Low autonomy and lack of control over how work gets done
• Absence of recognition or psychological safety
• Poor management practices that model burnout as ambition

If stress recovery tools are working for some but not all, the environment — not the individual — may need adjustment. Sustainable high performance is a shared responsibility between people and the organisations they work in.

What Managers Can Do

Leadership behaviour directly shapes team stress levels. The following actions make a measurable difference:

The Ripple Effect

When stress is balanced: productivity improves, relationships deepen, immunity strengthens, sleep stabilises, and mood lifts.

When stress is unmanaged: conflict rises, illness increases, motivation drops, and burnout follows.

Stress is not the villain. Unmanaged stress is.

The Takeaway

Good stress helps you grow. Bad stress erodes your wellbeing. Balance is built through awareness, recovery, and boundaries. The aim isn’t a stress-free life — it’s a life where stress works for you, not against you.

And sometimes, the most powerful question is simply:

“Is this stretching me — or suffocating me?”

Sources

• 1.https://www.summahealth.org/flourish/entries/2021/01/stress-management-how-to-tell-the-difference-between-good-and-bad-stress#:~:text=Ultimately%2C%20what%20distinguishes%20good%20stress,or%20feel%20about%20the%20experience.&text=Stress%20becomes%20a%20problem%20when,ways%20to%20deal%20with%20them.
• https://www.medirite.co.za/health-advice/good-stress-versus-bad-stress.html
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541120/#:~:text=Termed%20eustress%2C%20these%20positive%20stressors,on%20the%20body%20and%20mind.
• https://www.renewcure.com/health-library/understanding-stress-response-health/?sem_campaign=PMAXRCWEBSITE_SouthAfrica&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23491310563&gbraid=0AAAABCLuM5fkFeKtDrBvivGRxd0uvAMRw&gclid=Cj0KCQiAtfXMBhDzARIsAJ0jp3BnexLCagMuV13lpAMpT2UMwX-pKts1PEvNawu_19772pyJAv3a0psaAlZBEALw_wcB