What to Do When You’re Stuck in the Survival Zone

Covid-19 has led to nearly two years of loss, fear, isolation, and gnawing uncertainty about the future. Add to that the impact of other social issues, including climate change, income inequality, the ongoing racial reckoning, and fierce political polarization, and the problem is clear: Demands on our energy are exceeding our capacity. In the authors’ work understanding how to more skillfully manage energy, they’ve identified four different ways one can feel during any given day: the Performance, Survival, Burnout, and Renewal zones. Many of us are spending much of our time in the Survival and Burnout Zones, which focus on negative energy. One remedy for this never-ending stream of stressors is focusing on self-regulation: the ability to sit with your emotions calmly and skillfully in the face of whatever challenges you encounter. The more aware and accepting you are of whatever it is that you’re feeling, the calmer and more deliberate you can be about how you want to show up at work and in life.