Manage Stress Under Acceleration: Finding Balance When Life Speeds Up
- Dilek Süzal
- Sep 17
- 2 min read
Last week, as I opened my calendar after the holidays, I realized it wasn’t just work picking up speed. Coffee catchups, school meetings, social events, even healthy routines like cooking and sports, everything was suddenly “back on.”
It felt connecting but also exhausting. The truth is: we don’t come back from summer into onefast lane;we come back into many.
Problem: Stress in the Acceleration Zone
When everything speeds up at once, stress is not only about workload. It’s about constant switching, juggling multiple roles, and the invisible mental load of re-adjusting after a lighter summer pace. And telling ourselves to “just slow down” isn’t realistic when responsibilities are real.
Solution: Seeing Stress as Your Friend in Motion
Instead of trying to push the brakes, we need tools to navigate stress while the pace is high. This means learning to regulate our energy and mindset in the middle of momentum not waiting for a pause that may never come.
What the Research Say
Psychologist Kelly McGonigal, in her extremely mind-opening TED Talk "How to Make Stress Your Friend", highlights that what matters is not eliminating stress but how we interpret and use it.
Please save 15 minutes of your time to see that, stress can actually improve performance and deepen connections when managed consciously.
3 Practical Ways to Manage Stress on the Go
🔹 #1 - Stress as Signal, Not Enemy
Instead of seeing stress as proof you’re failing, treat it as a signal: “These matters.” Stress points to what’s important. Use it as data to prioritize instead of letting it spiral into overload.
🔹 #2 - Shift the Story
Instead of “I’m overwhelmed,” try reframing: “I’m in demand because I’m capable. Stress only helps me to rise to the occasion!” This reframing transforms stress into a resource instead of a burden.
🔹 #3 - Micro-Wins Over Mega-Plans
When pace is high, long to-do lists only fuel anxiety. Instead, focus on completing 1 or 2 meaningful actions a day. Micro-wins create momentum and reduce the feeling of drowning in demands.
Stress may not disappear even when you pause, but it can be turned into focus, resilience, and even growth when we manage it with intention.
Many of the executives and senior professionals I work with around the globe are challenged by stress management.
If you are one of them, or know one, reach out for a FREE CALL to explore how 1:1 coaching can support you in building practical tools to handle this.
Warmly,
Dilek
Official Collaboration Partners:
★ Lead Coach at the global coaching platform BetterUp based in USA.
★ Executive Coach and Trainer at SparkUs based in Turkey and Netherlands.
★ Impact Partner for coaching, training & facilitation projects at leadership experts Think Beyond Group based in Austria.
★ Leadership Coach at Percoms AG, based in Switzerland.
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