stress web

What Does Your Stress Web Look Like?

Sometimes it really helps to see things on paper. Your stressors are no exception. So today we are going to be talking about the “stress web”. It’s a system designed to help you clearly see what areas of your life are most affected by stress.  So instead of just thinking, ‘I’m so stressed out,’ or ‘My whole life is a mess,’ you can zero-in on the specific sources of your stress. This can allow you to better problem solve.

Download the stress web worksheet HERE courtesy of Precision Nutrition.

Here’s What to Do

1. Color in each wedge with how strongly that particular stressor is affecting you right now. The more stressful something feels, the more of the segment you’ll color in.
2. Take a look at the colored-in areas, asking questions like, “What’s adding to your stress level in that area?”
3. Use the “little bit better” mindset to brainstorm practical and productive ways to more effectively manage those stressors.
4. Which is to say: You don’t have to eliminate a stressor completely. That’d no doubt be AWESOME, but it also might feel impossible.

Instead, ask yourself:

What could I do to make this a little better? That doesn’t always mean decreasing the stressor (become sometimes that’s not possible). In some cases, the most effective approach could be increasing your recovery.

Think about the balance of stress and recovery as a tank that can be simultaneously filled (recovery) and drained (stress).

• To add more water to the tank, plug the leak by decreasing stress.
• If that’s not possible, you can also turn up the faucet by adding recovery.
• Or, do both: Lower stress while increasing rest and recovery.

And again…

It doesn’t have to be all about the big things.

For example, maybe you work from home and the environmental and mental segments of your stress web are high.

You could try:

•  buy noise-canceling headphones to drown out her loud household
• installed apps on her computer to block certain websites during periods of the day

Strategies like those might seem too simple to help, but they can allow you to cut down on distractions and focus better.

Want to try it yourself?

Download your own copy of the Stress Web at no cost HERE, courtesy of Precision Nutrition.

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