Managing Stress

Interrupt a stress spiral quickly during a busy day.

Use anytime you notice tension building or feel overwhelmed mid-task.

1. 1.Stop what you're doing and stand or sit up straight.
2. 2.Roll your shoulders back and down 3 times.
3. 3.Take 5 slow breaths, making your exhale longer than your inhale.
4. 4.Unclench your jaw and relax your hands.
5. 5.Ask yourself: 'What do I actually need right now — water, air, a break, a boundary?'
6. 6.Do that one thing, even briefly, before returning to your task.

Clear mental clutter by getting overwhelming thoughts out of your head and onto paper.

Use when you feel scattered or like you're juggling too much to think clearly.

1. 1.Grab a blank sheet of paper or open a notes app.
2. 2.Set a timer for 5 minutes.
3. 3.Write down every task, worry, or thought currently taking up space in your mind, in no particular order.
4. 4.Don't organize or edit — just get it all out.
5. 5.When the timer ends, circle the 3 items that are truly most urgent today.
6. 6.Cross off or set aside anything that isn't actually yours to solve right now.
7. 7.Start with just the first circled item.

Identify your personal sources of stress and your existing coping outlets to see where the balance is off.

Use weekly, or anytime stress feels unmanageable and unclear.

Reduce chronic overload by practicing saying no to unnecessary demands.

Use before a situation where you anticipate being asked to take on more than you can handle.

Proactively schedule recovery time rather than waiting for burnout to force a break.

Use at the start of each week to plan ahead rather than reacting after stress builds.

Identify and release physical tension that accumulates from chronic stress before it becomes chronic pain.

Use once a day, especially in the evening or when you notice a headache or tight shoulders.

Reduce overwhelm by sorting tasks by true urgency and importance instead of treating everything as equally urgent.

Use when your to-do list feels unmanageable or you don't know where to start.

Shift your relationship to a stressor by examining the meaning you've assigned to it.

Use when a specific ongoing stressor feels unbearable or all-consuming.

Build a personalized, tiered list of recovery activities matched to how much time and energy you actually have.

Use to build once, then reference whenever you have a gap of time and don't know how to use it well.

Get a full, honest picture of every source of stress currently active in your life, since chronic stress often hides in accumulation.

Use quarterly, or whenever you feel stress has become constant rather than situational.

Assess whether your current life includes adequate recovery windows relative to your demand load.

Use monthly, or anytime you notice persistent fatigue despite adequate sleep.

Shift your relationship to a stressor by deliberately generating alternative, equally true appraisals.

Use when you notice a stressor feels overwhelming or threatening beyond what the facts alone justify.

Insert brief parasympathetic-engaging breaks throughout a demanding day rather than waiting for full rest at day's end.

Use during high-demand workdays or caregiving stretches with no built-in breaks.

Identify and act on the actual areas of control within a high-demand, low-control situation.

Use when a stressor feels totally out of your hands and helplessness is building.

Build awareness of your current arousal zone so you can respond proactively rather than after dysregulation hits.

Use two to three times daily, especially during known high-stress seasons.

Your calendar is packed with obligations and you can feel your stress climbing with no clear relief in sight.

A colleague or boss keeps assigning you additional tasks without checking your current capacity.

You've noticed physical symptoms — headaches, poor sleep, stomach issues — that seem tied to ongoing stress.

You look at your calendar and every hour is booked with obligations, leaving you feeling like there's no room to even consider your own capacity.

You snap at a minor inconvenience — a slow line, a dropped dish — far more intensely than the situation warrants, and immediately feel embarrassed.