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How to think clearly under pressure

resilience Sep 27, 2026

In my flute lesson last week, my professor put me under pressure. He whistled a note and asked me to tell him what note it was. Then another note. He did this again and again, at random times throughout my lesson.

A lot of them I got wrong. For any musicians reading this, you will know that this is a challenging task, especially if you didn’t do ear training as a child.

His point was not to make me look stupid. Instead, he wanted to show me in real life what happens to your brain when you are under pressure.

When we talked about it, I realised my brain had gone into panic mode. So I didn’t even give myself the chance to work the notes out rationally. I could have just stopped to think, found one note on the flute and then counted up or down.

His point was: if you let your brain get into this mode, you are finished.

This made me think of work.

Pressure at work might look different, but it feels the same

How often do you feel under pressure?

Say the system goes down and your team has two ways to fix it. Everyone is looking at you to decide, fast. If you are someone who usually likes to think things through, you now might feel under pressure.

Or you have a high stakes project to manage, and you don’t want to make a mistake - you feel under pressure.

I never used to think much about these situations. Yes, you might not feel comfortable in that moment, but isn’t that sometimes just life?

Until the flute lesson got me thinking. Am I even aware of what my brain does when I am under pressure? Does everyone’s brain react the same? And what can I do so it doesn’t hurt my performance at work?

Here is what the research says.

Your brain has a thinker and a guard dog

The thinker is the part that plans and solves problems. It keeps you focused on your task and holds information in your head while you work something out. Scientists call it the prefrontal cortex.

The guard dog is there to protect you. It reacts fast and doesn’t stop to think. Scientists call its centre the amygdala.

When you feel calm, the guard dog lies quietly and the thinker gets on with the job. But when pressure rises and a situation feels threatening or out of control, the guard dog starts barking - until it barks so loudly you can’t hear yourself think. (research linked below)

That’s useful if a car is heading straight at you, but it’s much less useful when you need to pick the right fix for a broken system, or need to manage a high stakes project.

This is why even skilled people can get something totally wrong under pressure. Researchers call that “choking under pressure”.

Women and men react differently

What is fascinating: Under stress, men tend to make decisions faster and take more risks. Women tend to become slower and more careful. (I have linked the research below)

In the workplace, that can be seen as hesitancy, or a lack of confidence, especially when facing a high-stakes opportunity. But it also means you are less likely to take unnecessary risks.

I found this incredibly helpful to understand. It stops me blaming myself for taking longer on decisions than some of my (male) colleagues, especially when I am under pressure.

And I have learnt some techniques to deal with it.

#1 Notice when the guard dog starts barking

In that moment, your mind most likely feels blank. So you can’t rely on your thoughts to tell you what’s happening. You need to learn to spot the other signals your body is sending instead, for example:

your heart is racing
you’re holding your breath

Once you notice it, name it. Instead of saying to yourself “I feel anxious, I’m stressed”, tell yourself “I am feeling challenged right now.”

This might seem small - but how you interpret the symptoms changes your body’s response.

If you read your racing heart as a sign that you’re losing control, your body goes into threat mode. Your blood vessels tighten and the guard dog keeps barking.

If you read it as your body getting ready (”my heart is pumping faster to get more oxygen to my brain, so I can make this decision”), your body goes into challenge mode. More blood flows, and you can still hear the thinker.

#2 Buy yourself time to stop and breathe

If you manage to catch yourself in this state, pausing for 5-10 seconds will help you immensely. A short pause stops you reacting to the barking: It gives the dog time to settle, so the thinker can make the choice.

What you can say: “Give me a moment, I want to get this right.”

Then add a breathing technique called the “physiological sigh”:

First inhale: breathe in through your nose for about 2 seconds. Fill your lungs partially.
Second inhale: without breathing out, take a second, shorter breath in through your nose. This tops off your lungs.
Long exhale: breathe out slowly and completely through your mouth for 4-6 seconds. Let all the air out.

One cycle takes about 8 seconds. You can repeat it 2-3 times for greater effect. I have linked the Stanford study below, that shows the effectiveness of this technique.

This works best just before a meeting or a difficult decision. If you’re already in the meeting, breathing in twice out loud can feel awkward. Instead, focus on sensing your body and coming back into the present for a moment. That is less effective, but much less awkward.

#3 Make the decision smaller

Once you have stopped and breathed, you can think better again.

Now make sure you don’t overwhelm your brain and set the guard dog off again. Break the decision down into smaller parts. (No all-or-nothing framing - that leads to panic)

Back to the example of the system outage. If two fixes are possible - don’t try to pick one straight away. First, just agree what even matters right now. Is it getting back online as fast as possible? Or making sure it doesn’t happen again tomorrow?

Answer that smaller question first. The choice between the two fixes often becomes much clearer.

Back to my flute lesson

At the end of the lesson, my professor did another run. This time I allowed myself to stop for 5 seconds, breathe, and then answer.

It made a massive difference. I still didn’t get it right all the time, but sometimes.

That’s when I also understood why he had tested me at random times all the way through. He wasn’t just making a point - he was actually training me. The more often you practise under small pressure, the more familiar it feels when the big pressure comes. My concert this week felt easy in comparison to that!

Your action this week

Think back to your work week last week. What moments come to mind where you felt under pressure? How did that feel in your body?

Pick one signal you noticed. The next time it shows up, tell yourself “I am feeling challenged right now”. Then give yourself 5 seconds before you answer.

The research I mentioned: