Stress creates or harms performance.

Stress is caused by the interest chemical dopamine, and the alertness chemical norepinephrine. Too little prevents performance—need eustress to do things—but too much causes the suppression of brain activity. Stress can be reduced by other activites and by offloading things. Eustress is essentially motivation.rR1 Effect is called the Yerkes-Dodson Law.


  1. David Rock, Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long, 1st ed (New York: Harper Business, 2009). (See notes.)