“How to Maintain Composure in Stressful Situations“

Several years ago, I encountered a situation where I had to break into my own home. I had just returned from visiting a friend across town on a freezing winter night in Montreal. It was around midnight, and the temperature was minus 40 degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit. As I stood on my front porch, I realized I had forgotten my keys and could see them through the window, lying on the dining room table. After trying all the doors and windows, I considered calling a locksmith but knew it could take a while for them to arrive at that time of night. I also couldn't go back to my friend's house as I had an early flight the next morning and needed to retrieve my passport and suitcase. In a state of desperation and freezing cold, I resorted to breaking through the basement window and covering it with cardboard. It was an expensive fix, but I rationalized it as being no more costly than a locksmith in the middle of the night.

As a neuroscientist, I am aware of how stress can affect our thinking. It can cloud our judgment and lead us to make impulsive decisions. This became evident to me the next morning when I woke up with a foggy mind and a list of things to do, including calling my contractor to fix the window. It wasn't until I arrived at the airport and realized I had forgotten my passport that I fully understood the consequences of my hasty actions.

This experience led me to reflect on how we can prevent bad things from happening or minimize their impact. I was reminded of a concept called prospective hindsight, which I learned from my colleague and Nobel Prize winner, Danny Kahneman. It involves looking ahead and anticipating potential problems before they occur, and taking steps to prevent them or reduce their impact. This approach is also known as the pre-mortem, a term coined by psychologist Gary Klein.

I want to share some insights on how we can apply this mindset to different areas of our lives. It may seem obvious, but designating a specific place for frequently misplaced items in our homes can save us a lot of time and stress. This is because our brains are wired to remember locations, and having a designated spot for things that are easily lost can significantly reduce the likelihood of misplacing them. For example, hanging your keys on a designated hook by the door or having a specific drawer for your passport can ensure they are always in the same place when you need them.

When it comes to travel, taking a picture of important documents such as credit cards, driver's license, and passport and storing them in the cloud can help in case they are lost or stolen. This is especially useful in situations where we may be under stress and not thinking clearly.

Another area where prospective hindsight can be beneficial is in making medical decisions. One common example is the prescription of statins to lower cholesterol levels. While many of us may be familiar with these drugs and know people who take them, we may not be aware of the number needed to treat (NNT) for them. This is the number of people who need to take the drug for one person to be helped. In the case of statins, the NNT is 300, meaning 300 people need to take the drug for a year before one heart attack or stroke is prevented. This may seem like a small risk, but when we consider that the side effects occur in 5% of patients and can be severe, it becomes a different story. By asking our doctors about the NNT and potential side effects, we can make more informed decisions about our health.

In conclusion, the pre-mortem mindset involves thinking ahead to potential problems and taking proactive steps to prevent or minimize their impact. It is essential to recognize that under stress, our brains release cortisol, which can impair our logical thinking. By anticipating potential failures and putting systems in place, we can make better decisions and reduce the likelihood of negative outcomes. As for my own experience with breaking into my house, I have since installed a combination lock and have been gradually working on becoming more organized. It may not be a perfect system, but it has helped me learn from my past mistakes and prevent them from happening again.