The Science of Breaking Out of Your Comfort Zone (and Why You Should)

You've seen inspirational quotes that
encourage you to get out and do
something strange—something you
wouldn't normally do—but getting out
of your routine just takes so much
work. There's actually a lot of science
that explains why it's so hard to
break out of your comfort zone, and
why it's good for you when you do it.
With a little understanding and a few
adjustments, you can break away
from your routine and do great
things.
It's important to push the boundaries
of your comfort zone, and when you
do, it's kind of a big deal . But what is
the "comfort zone" exactly? Why is it
that we tend to get comfortable with
the familiar and our routines, but
when we're introduced to new and
interesting things, the glimmer fades
so quickly? Finally, what benefit do
we derive from breaking out of our
comfort zone, and how do we do it?
Answering those questions is a tall
order, but it's not too hard to do.
Let's get started.
The Science of Your "Comfort
Zone," and Why It's So Hard to
Leave It
Simply, your comfort zone is a
behvioral space where your activities
and behaviors fit a routine and
pattern that minimizes stress and
risk. It provides a state of mental
security. You benefit in obvious ways:
regular happiness, low anxiety, and
reduced stress.
The idea of the comfort zone goes
back to a classic experiment in
psychology. Back in 1908,
psychologists Robert M. Yerkes and
John D. Dodson explained that a state
of relative comfort created a steady
level of performance In order to
maximize performance, however, we
need a state of relative anxiety—a
space where our stress levels are
slightly higher than normal. This
space is called "Optimal Anxiety," and
it's just outside our comfort zone. Too
much anxiety and we're too stressed
to be productive, and our
performance drops off sharply.
The idea of optimal anxiety isn't
anything new. Anyone who's ever
pushed themselves to get to the next
level or accomplish something knows
that when you really challenge
yourself, you can turn up amazing
results. More than a few studies
support the point . However, pushing
too hard can actually cause a negative
result, and reinforce the idea that
challenging yourself is a bad idea. It's
our natural tendency to return to an
anxiety neutral, comfortable state.
You can understand why it's so hard
to kick your brain out of your comfort
zone.
Even so, your comfort zone is neither
a good or bad thing. It's a natural
state that most people trend towards.
Leaving it means increased risk and
anxiety, which can have positive and
negative results (which we'll get to in
a moment), but don't demonize your
comfort zone as something holding
you back. We all need that head-space
where we're least anxious and
stressed so we can process the
benefits we get when we leave it.

What You Get When You Break
Free and Try New Things
Optimal anxiety is that place where
your mental productivity and
performance reach their peak. Still,
"increased performance" and
"enhanced productivity" just sound
like "do more stuff." What do you
really get when you're willing to step
outside of your comfort zone?
The benefits you get after stepping
outside of your comfort zone can
linger. There's the overall self-
improvement you get through the
skills you're learning, the new foods
you're trying, the new country you're
visiting, and the new job you're
interviewing for. There's also the soft
mental benefits you get from
broadening your horizons.
How to Break Out of Your
Comfort Zone
Outside your comfort zone can be a
good place to be, as long as you don't
tip the scales too far. It's important to
remember there's a difference
between the kind of controlled
anxiety we're talking about and the
very real anxiety that many people
struggle with every day. Everyone's
comfort zone is different, and what
may expand your horizons may
paralyze someone else. Remember,
optimal anxiety can bring out your
best, but too much is a bad thing .
Here are some ways to break out (and
by proxy, expand) your comfort zone
without going too far:
There are lots of other ways to stretch
your personal boundaries. You could
learn a new language or skill.
Learning a new language has multiple
benefits, many of which extend to
learning any new skill. Connect with
people that inspire you, or volunteer
with an organization that does great
work. Travel, whether you go around
the block or across the globe. If
you've lived your whole life seeing
the world from your front door,
you're missing out. Visiting new and
different places is perhaps one of the
best ways to really broaden your
perspectives , and it doesn't have to be
expensive or difficult to do. The
experiences you have may be mind-
blowing or regrettable, but that
doesn't matter. The point is that
you're doing it, and you're pushing
yourself past the mental blocks that
tell you to do nothing.
Trying new things is difficult. If it
weren't, breaking out of your comfort
zone would be easy and we'd do it all
the time. It's just as important to
understand how habits form and how
we can break them as it is to press
yourself out of your comfort zone by
doing specific things.
Why It's Important to Return To
Your Comfort Zone from Time
to Time
You can't live outside of your comfort
zone all the time. You need to come
back from time to time to process
your experiences. The last thing you
want is for the new and interesting to
quickly become commonplace and
boring. This phenomenon, called
hedonistic adaptation , is the natural
tendency to be impressed by new
things only to have the incredible
become ordinary after a short time.
It's why we can have access to the
greatest repository of human
knowledge ever created (the internet)
at our fingertips (on our
smartphones) and still get so bored
that all we think of is how quickly we
can get newer, faster access. In one
way it drives us forward, but in
another it keeps us from appreciating
the subtle and the everyday.
You can fight this by trying new,
smaller things. Ordering something
new at a restaurant where you get the
same thing every visit can be eye-
opening the same way visiting a new
country can be, and both push you
out of your comfortable spaces.
Diversify the challenges you embrace
so you don't just push your
boundaries in the same direction. If
you've been learning Latin-based
languages and you find yourself
bored, switch gears to a language
with a completely different set of
characters. If you've taken up
running, instead of just trying to run
longer and farther, try challenging
yourself to run on different terrain.
You still get the challenge, but you
broaden your horizons in a different
way.
Take It Slow, and Make
Stretching Your Boundaries a
Habit Of Its Own
The point of stepping out of your
comfort zone is to embrace new
experiences and to get to that state of
optimal anxiety in a controlled,
managed way, not to stress yourself
out. Take time to reflect on your
experiences so you can reap the
benefits and apply them to your day
to day activities. Then do something
else interesting and new. Make it a
habit if you can. Try something new
every week, or every month. Our own
Adam Dachis has committed himself
to doing something weird and new
every week, just to test his
boundaries.
Similarly, don't limit yourself to big,
huge experiences. Maybe meditation
pushes you out of your comfort zone
just as much as bungee jumping. Try
the former if you've already done the
latter. The goal isn't to become an
adrenaline junkie—you just want to
learn to learn what you're really
capable of. That's another reason why
it's important to return to a
comfortable state sometimes and just
relax. Just don't forget to bring back
as much as you can carry from those
inspired, creative, productive, and
slightly uncomfortable moments when
you do
You'll be more productive.
Comfort kills productivity
because without the sense of
unease that comes from having
deadlines and expectations, we
tend to phone it in and do the
minimum required to get by. We
lose the drive and ambition to
do more and learn new things.
We also fall into the "work trap,"
where we feign "busy" as a way
to stay in our comfort zones and
avoid doing new things. Pushing
your personal boundaries can
help you hit your stride sooner,
get more done, and find smarter
ways to work.
You'll have an easier time dealing
with new and unexpected changes .
In this article at The New York
Times , Brené Brown, a research
professor at the University of
Houston, explains that one of the
worst things we can do is
pretend fear and uncertainty
don't exist. By taking risks in a
controlled fashion and
challenging yourself to things
you normally wouldn't do, you
can experience some of that
uncertainty in a controlled,
manageable environment.
Learning to live outside your
comfort zone when you choose
to can prep you for life changes
that force you out of it.

You'll find it easier to push your
boundaries in the future . Once
you start stepping out of your
comfort zone, it gets easier over
time. This same NYT article
explains that as you step out of
your comfort zone, you'll
become accustomed to that state
of optimal anxiety. "Productive
discomfort," as they call it,
becomes more normal to you,
and you're willing to push
farther before your performance
falls off. This idea is well
illustrated in this infographic at
Future Science Leaders . At the
bottom, you'll see that as you
challenge yourself, your comfort
zone adjusts so what was
difficult and anxiety-inducing
becomes easier as you repeat it.
You'll find it easier to brainstorm
and harness your creativity . This
is a soft benefit, but it's fairly
common knowledge (and it's
easily reproducible) that seeking
new experiences, learning new
skills, and opening the door to
new ideas inspire us and
educate us in a way that little
else does. Trying new things can
make us reflect on our old ideas
and where they clash with our
new knowledge, and inspire us
to learn more and challenge
comfirmation bias , our tendency
to only seek out information we
already agree with. Even in the
short term, a positively
uncomfortable experience can
help us brainstorm, see old
problems in a new light, and
tackle the challenges we face
with new energy.

The benefits you get after stepping
outside of your comfort zone can
linger. There's the overall self-
improvement you get through the
skills you're learning, the new foods
you're trying, the new country you're
visiting, and the new job you're
interviewing for. There's also the soft
mental benefits you get from
broadening your horizons.