Daily Stress Audits
Preventing burnouts, identifying stressors, and taking back control
Disclaimer: All content and information included in this post are for informational purposes only. The information presented here is not a substitute for any kind of clinical diagnosis, therapy, or professional advise. You should not rely solely on this information.
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She glances at the top right corner of her screen to check the time. It is only 11 o’clock in the morning on a Monday and yet, it feels like she’s been in one million meetings already and people in the Pacific timezone have just started their workday. Already she can feel her upper back and shoulders tightening to the point that it almost feels like she is carrying the weight of the world on them. This is her body’s physical response to stress.
If you are still reading this, it must be because you have experienced the same or something similar to it at one point in your life and you want to read more.
Today, let me share an idea with you. This idea came to be after reading the book, “Burnout: the secret to unlocking the stress cycle” (Nagoski, 2019). In their book, they discussed about the idea of completing the stress cycle to prevent burnout; and, also emphasized the importance of differentiating between stressors and our stress response.
As a researcher, I love doing audits to systematically document everything. The idea is to conduct a daily stress audit in order to identify our stressors for specific points of the day and document their impact on our stress levels. I envision this daily stress audits to be in a form of a line graph (see example of what I made below).
Y-Axis is for Stress Level.
For this line graph, the y-axis (vertical, left line) is our level of stress. We can label your y-axis with just low at the very bottom and high at the opposite end. Another option is to indicate the stress level in terms of numbers, where the lowest can be zero or no stress and the highest can be labeled with the number 10.
X-Axis is for Time of Day.
Since we want this to be a daily audit of our stressors and stress levels, the x-axis (horizontal, bottom line) is the time of day starting from the time when we wake up (leftmost end) to the time when we go to sleep (rightmost end). I think it is best to label the x-axis with one hour increments so we can identify the who, what, why, how, where for that specific when.
Start plotting and drawing your line graph.
Once we have the y-axis and x-axis drawn out, it is time to plot our stress level for each point of the day. It is best to do this throughout the day and not just in one sitting, to make it as accurate as possible. Here are some pointers as you plot:
You just woke up. On a scale of 0-10, how would you rate your stress level this early in the morning? Mark the corresponding stress level for that time of the day.
For example, if you feel relaxed in the morning and you woke up at 6AM, then perhaps you can mark 0 (zero) or low stress and place it somewhere on the very left to indicate that this was your stress level at the time of waking up.
Around 9AM you started feeling restless. Ask yourself the same question again. On a scale of 0-10, how would you rate your stress level at 9AM? Then, plot it in the same manner as how it was described above, only this time you have another task - you need to mark what could possible have caused such elevated stress at 9AM?
Was it someone you met with? (a difficult coworker)
Was it something that needed to get done? (tight deadlines)
Was it a specific task? (you disliked spreadsheets)
Then you will do this throughout the day until bedtime.
At the end of the day, we will have a better picture of when our stress gets elevated, how elevated they are, and what could possibly have caused it.
At the end of the day, we will have a better picture of when our stress gets elevated, how elevated they are, and what could possibly have caused it.
Now that we have our Daily Stress Audit, it is time to start thinking of what type of physical activities to engage in for each specific points of the day and types of stressors that are needed to be addressed.
In my previous post, I wrote the following:
The book’s thesis stresses the importance of executing an active physical response to the physical effects of stress to our body. The authors explained that doing so is similar to the act of speaking the same language so the stimuli can understand the message of our response. In other words, when stress results to physiological effects in our body, we cannot just intellectualize the process of addressing it. Instead, we also need to have a corresponding physical and physiological response. Doing so will help us complete the stress cycle, thereby providing us the necessary reset on a regular basis, so we do not keep on heating up until we reach our boiling point or the point of no return.
Some of the suggestions from the book are:
🏃♂️ exercise or any physical activity (must do)
🧘 breathing exercises (boxed breathing, body scans)
🤝 meaningful social interactions (hangout with friends and socialize)
😂 laughter (the big loud ones)
🤗 physical touch and affection (people in our lives (with consent) and pets)
😭 crying as a cathartic release
🙏 connecting with a purpose bigger than ourselves
✍️ creative expression (arts, dance, writing, others)
Now, we can go back to our Daily Stress Audit line graph and add one or more of these techniques to help us complete our stress cycle. Below is an example from me.
In my example above, the same line graph is shown but this time I added potential activities that might reduce my stress levels at multiple points of the day.
Early in the morning, before my stress level starts to rise, I could go for a short 15-30 minute walk before I even start my workday. That should help bring down my stress level close to zero (or the lowest).
By mid-morning, since I might only have 10-15 minutes of break in-between meetings, I could use that to have a quick game of tug with Datu or spend time hugging him on the floor.
At lunch time, I usually have 30-45 minutes blocked to eat and have a break. I could use at least 15 minutes for a short walk either by myself or Datu.
In the afternoon, in-between meetings, I can play my playlist that helps me stay calm.
After wrapping up my workday, I could go for another short walk to clear my head and bring my stress level down some more.
And, as I wind down and get ready for bed, a quick session of sketching or creative writing could help my brain prepare for rest.
Who is willing to try this with me? 🖐️
🌩️ What stressors do you usually encounter within a given day?
📈 What is your stress level for each time of day?
🗺️ Are you able to map the stress level caused by each particular stressor?
🏃 Are you ready to try doing activities that could help complete the stress cycle?
💭 Share your thoughts with me.
💬 Comment below 👇 and 🔄 restack this post
👀 Read my writings on Intentionality.
I really like this as a tool to understand the connection between habit and triggers. By closely monitoring our shifting levels of stress with time of day and activity, we can create habits that support our wellbeing. Thank you for this! Making me think of Atomic Habits (James Clear).
Great list!
I also sing and dance and use a lot of somatic exercises!