13. You Find it Hard to Concentrate
Anxiety involves the prefrontal cortex and amygdala in your brain- a key region involved in memory and learning. When you are anxious, your adrenaline levels rise, and the sympathetic nervous system takes over. This is not a state conducive to concentration. Even if you manage to take in what has been said, it tends to bounce around in your brain and not be adequately processed or stored in your long-term memory.
Students may experience high levels of anxiety when studying for exams. A study of undergraduates in the UK found that 20% of students who did not experience anxiety when starting their studies began to experience a significant level of anxiety by their second year. The minds of anxious students are often full of racing thoughts, and they have great difficulty in trying to focus on information and remember it.
Anxiety can wreak havoc in a work environment where it’s necessary to concentrate, take in information and decide on what to do. It not only affects your productivity but the way you relate to colleagues and clients. If you fear a project is too large or complicated, you may procrastinate and put off starting it. Excessive worry can also make you jump from one task to the other and be unsuccessful in completing any of them. It can also affect your ability to listen and take on board what others are saying.
When anxiety is severe, it will affect your concentration in every area of your life. It impairs your short-term learning and concentration areas of the brain. It’s important to realize that you don’t have to put so much pressure on yourself to remember everything because when the pressure is lifted, the stress response subsides. More strength to focus and to memorize creates the opposite effect of what you want to happen.