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Why we choke under pressure

We've all been there once in our lives.

The looming deadline for the massive project at the office, an important job interview, the big college exam. The pressure builds, the moment comes, and before you know it, you've choked. There's actually a scientific reason why we sometimes collapse under pressure, documented in LifeHacker's article today about author Sian Beilock's book Choke.

The basic reasoning is that your brain stops working the way it should - in essence, a cranial short circuit takes thinking power away from your brain's ability to process complex reasoning tasks such as calculating the answer to a problem, or answering an interviewer's pressing question. Instead, you become choked up with minutia that you'd normally handle subconsciously without realizing it - obsessing about your mannerisms too much in an interview, worrying over an exam answer - it all disturbs the natural flow of actions you'd follow in a less pressured situation.

Read more on how to cope better under pressure at LifeHacker.com.


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