How to stay calm when you know you'll be stressed | Daniel Levitin | TED (Level 1)

One freezing night, I locked myself out of my house. I had to break a window just to get inside. The next morning, I was tired and stressed. Because of this, I made another mistake and forgot my passport at the airport. I am a scientist who studies the brain. I know that stress makes it hard to think clearly. When we are stressed, our brains release a chemical called cortisol. This clouds our thinking. To stop these mistakes, we can use a method called the "pre-mortem." This means we look ahead to see what might go wrong. Then, we make a plan to fix it before it happens. For example, we often lose small things like keys. To fix this, we should always put them in the exact same place. Our brains are good at remembering locations. We should also plan for big decisions. If a doctor wants to give you medicine, ask questions first. Ask how many people the medicine actually helps. We all make mistakes, but if we plan ahead, we can stop bad things from happening.