Maintaining a balance

So: short-term discomfort can be beneficial. But exactly how long should you spend out of your comfort zone? “A good rule is to be out for less than a third of your day,” says Dr David Hamilton, author of How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body. “While the optimum amount of time varies, try to get out of your comfort zone regularly, every day if you can.” Hamilton recommends mirroring the model of a simple meditation exercise which involves breathing in for four seconds and then breathing out for eight. So, retreat for double the amount of time you were doing a stressful activity: after an hour at a networking event, you’ve earned two hours of scrolling on the sofa.

“It’s vital to give yourself space to feel comfortable and unchallenged before pushing yourself again,” Dr Hamilton says. “When we’re out of our comfort zone it’s a time of high activity, forming new neural pathways and using the hormone cortisol to focus our brains. The brain learns it’s good to stretch itself. But if this state lasts too long you risk over-feeding the brain with cortisol, meaning your reserves deplete and you can end up damaging it.”

Understanding the brain’s neural changes associated with leaving your comfort zone might have helped Simeta, 30, a lawyer from London who began retraining as a doctor two years ago. “I worried I wasn’t intelligent enough so I pushed myself all the time,” she says. “I rarely let myself have time off studying, but I was so stressed it became harder and harder to focus.” After talking to her tutor, Simeta was able to learn to ‘zigzag’, helping her unlock a sweet spot in which she felt motivated to learn yet not so overwhelmed she was unable to do anything.

Why it’s time to get out of your comfort zone