Most people in our society believe overwhelm makes them productive. Bosses think putting fear into people will make them work harder, act better, make better decisions. Joe states flatly: there is no psychological evidence for this.
Prolonged fear reduces capacity to think, slows things down, reduces accuracy, and reduces capacity to learn. The mind tricks us into thinking we’re getting more done — like a starving lion buzzing around frantically but hunting far worse than the one relaxed in the sun.
“There is no psychological evidence of that at all. Now obviously a little bit of urgency can be helpful but not any kind of prolonged fear.”
The Marines capture it: “Slowest steady. Steady is fast.” The somatic marker of overwhelm is a feeling of pushing — “I have to, I gotta get” — plus increased forgetfulness, binary thinking, false urgency. Joe advocates measuring and experimenting to find the optimal pace rather than assuming overwhelm is it.