We sat down with Carter to discuss her current work and to learn more about her perspective on wellness.
What are you working on now?
I am working on a series of projects about how we adapt to all the new technology — smartphones in particular — in our lives. I’m doing that for both adults (mostly people in the workforce) and for teenagers. That latter part is related to a bigger project about stress among teenagers. It’s not original research. I’m looking at all the research that other people have done and am translating that work into practical solutions for regular people (myself included!).
Dr. Carter on Stress
We all need to be better informed about stress. What should we know to increase our stress IQ?
Multitasking massively increases our overall stress levels, and even though we feel more productive when we’re multitasking, we aren’t actually more productive. It’s physiological. The more overwhelmed we become, the less access we have to the part of our brains that we use to prioritize and manage our time — and to even just focus and resist temptation. That’s why stepping back, going for a walk, taking a break, or doing anything that helps us slow down for a little bit of time can actually make us more productive. Often we feel like we have too much to do to be able to take a 20-minute break. But we’ve all had the experience of spinning our wheels for way more than 20 minutes, and then not being able to get on track. That’s because the part of your brain that helps you stay focused and organize your time doesn’t get enough blood when you’re multitasking and feeling overwhelmed.
Dr. Carter on Resilience
How do you define resilience?
Resilience is the ability to bounce back in the face of difficulty and discomfort — or even pain and trauma.
We all at one time or another have a life experience that challenges our resilience. Can you describe what you learned about your own resilience after such an experience?
Having experiences that require resilience has helped me realize that I can handle the difficult emotions that often come with such experiences. This, in turn, has helped me develop emotional courage; it has helped me learn not to avoid challenge and difficulty. Being more willing to experience tough emotions — such as disappointment, embarrassment, and frustration — helps me be more persistent and less risk-averse.
