Stress Check-In
List the things that are currently taking up mental and emotional space. Score each one out of 10 based on how stressful it feels right now. Notice which things you can influence and identify one or two small, actionable steps that might help reduce the load.
How to use this
Start by getting everything out of your head. Add each item that is currently taking up mental space for you right now. Score each one out of 10 based on how stressful it feels.
Then decide whether it is something you may be able to influence in some way, or whether it is mostly outside your control. For anything you can influence, add small action steps.
You can repeat this exercise over time to notice patterns and track whether your stress load is changing.
Note: listing more items will naturally increase the total stress score. It can be helpful to look both at the total score and how intense each item feels.
Add a stressor
This can be anything that is taking up mental space right now (try and be as specific as possible): work, home, health, finances, relationships, admin, routines, or something else entirely.
Your stress overview
This is not a validated measure of stress, simply a snapshot of your current mental and emotional load. The most useful insight often comes from repeating the exercise regularly and observing how your score changes over time.
This does not mean stressors outside your control do not matter. It simply highlights where small, focused actions may help reduce the load.
Your action list
Actions added to stressors you can influence will appear here.
Next steps: reduce the load gently
Look over your action list and choose just one or two small steps to begin with. Focus on actions that feel realistic and likely to make things a little easier, rather than trying to solve everything at once.
Come back to this exercise regularly. You may notice that some stressors feel less intense, new actions become possible, or things that were outside your control begin to shift.