7:42 AM. I arrive at the office.
12 urgent emails. 3 meetings. 1 strategic decision to make before noon.
The usual routine.
That morning looks like all the others. Except this time, something is wrong. I feel it, but I ignore it. As usual.
Because I’ve learned one thing over the years: a manager handles it. Manages it. Holds it together. If I stop, everything falls apart.
That had become my mantra. And it drove me straight into a wall.
An Ordinary Day… That Reveals Everything
10:06 AM: migraine.
12:03 PM: cold sandwich in front of the screen, eyes fixed on a spreadsheet.
3:55 PM: a mistake in a client file. Not serious, objectively. But that’s when I felt ashamed.
Not because of the mistake. Because of what it revealed: I wasn’t really there anymore.
I was present physically. I answered emails. I attended meetings. But something had gone out.
I was performing… but absent. Present, but empty. Head always full. Heart never at peace.
And one day, in the middle of a management meeting, it happened: blank. Impossible to find my words. The silence that lasts one second too long. The looks.
That day, I understood this couldn’t go on.
The Mental Load of Managers: A Still Too Taboo Subject
We talk a lot about mental load. In the media, in open spaces, in HR studies. But we talk very little — very little — about what genuinely allows it to be released.
Concrete tools. Immediately usable. Right in the middle of the working day.
Because the reality of a manager is that they don’t have the luxury of stopping for two hours to meditate. They need to recover between two meetings. Before a difficult decision. After a team conflict. That’s exactly what the concentration and efficiency tools of TOP® allow.
Discovering TOP®: Stopping to Move Forward Better
It was a colleague who mentioned it, almost in passing.
“You don’t look stressed… what’s your secret?”
“I learned to stop.”
“Stop? In the middle of a storm?”
“Yes. 3 minutes. Breathing. Focus. Reconnection.”
The Potential Optimization Techniques® (TOP®), developed by Dr. Édith Perreaut-Pierre, are mental and emotional regulation tools based on neuroscience and advanced sophrology. Their principle: creating mental recovery bubbles during the day. Not passive breaks. Active moments of recentring, allowing you to restart with clarity — in service of well-being and life balance.
What I Concretely Learned
Guided breathing (Controlled Breathing, Soothing Respirations): to calm the nervous system in under 3 minutes. Positive visualisation (Relaxation Image, PMR): to mentally prepare for a stressful situation before it happens. Intentional recentring (SAR, RNA): to find your posture and resources at the moment you need them most.
No miracle. Just training. And a method that reconnected me to the essentials.
Concrete Benefits: What Changed in My Daily Life as a Manager
I make better decisions, even under pressure — thanks to sustainable performance. I handle unexpected events without my stress level exploding. I arrive in meetings with clear ideas, not a foggy head — concentration and efficiency restored. I finish my days tired, but not drained — my well-being and life balance have stabilised. I recovered mental availability for what really matters.
This is not magic. It’s regulation. Learned. Trained. Applied.
Work Stress and Emotions: Concrete Solutions Exist
If you recognise yourself in this journey — head too full, alarm signals ignored, the feeling of spinning in place despite the investment — know that there are structured approaches to take back control.
At TOP Consulting, we support managers, executives and leaders in stress and emotion management, strengthening concentration and efficiency, sustainable performance and well-being and life balance — through Potential Optimization Techniques®. These trainings are designed to integrate into your professional reality — not to ask you to reorganise everything.
Because sustainable performance starts with knowing how to stop.
Conclusion: When Was the Last Time You Actually Pressed Pause?
Work stress for managers is not inevitable. It’s not a question of willpower or resistance either. It’s a question of tools.
TOP® gave me those tools. They allowed me to stay high-performing without losing myself along the way.
When was the last time you truly pressed pause?