Stress audit
List what's stressing you, rate how much it affects you and how much you can change it, and get a next step for each.
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Add three to ten things that are on your mind. They'll be sorted into what to act on, what to see less of, and what to accept.
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How it works
- List what’s on your mind. Big and small. Three to ten items is plenty.
- Rate each one. How much does it affect you, from 1 to 5? How much can you change it?
- Read the three groups.
- Act on it: things you can change. Write one next step as an if-then plan (“When I open my laptop on Monday, I’ll block two hours for the report”). If-then plans make people more likely to follow through [1].
- Reduce exposure: things you can change a bit. You can’t fix them, but you can spend less time and attention on them.
- Accept it, for now: things you can’t change. The step is to notice when you’re going over them again and to put that energy somewhere else.
- Look again in a few weeks. Things move between groups.
Sorting worries by how much you can control them is common advice, and it’s similar to methods used in problem-solving training, but this exact exercise hasn’t been tested, so it’s rated Common practice. For the thinking behind it, see Focusing on what you control.
Sources
- [1]Gollwitzer PM, Sheeran P (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. Systematic review / meta-analysis