Stress is everywhere. We are so busy, running around like chickens with our heads cut off. We are constantly in a hurry, even when we don’t need to be. Stress comes from both good and bad things that happen to us and the stress comes from how we react to a situation. Now, I am not a doctor or a psychologist, but I do know stress can negatively affect your healthy, the day, your feelings and productivity. When I am stressed out, I go for a long run to decompress and rewind and I know when I am at the breaking point.
How stressed are you? Take this simple stress test and see. Answer yes or no to the following questions:
- Do you frequently neglect your diet?
- Do you try and take care of everything yourself?
- Do you blow up easily?
- Do you set unrealistic goals?
- Do you fail to see humor in situations others find funny?
- Do you frequently get irritated?
- Do you frequently make a big deal of everything?
- Do you frequently complain you are unorganized?
- Do you frequently keep everything inside?
- Do you often neglect exercise?
- Do you not have supportive relationships?
- Do you frequently get little rest?
- Do you frequently get angry when kept waiting?
- Do you frequently ignore stress symptoms?
- Do you frequently think there is only one way to do things?
- Do you frequently fail to build relaxation into your day?
- Do you frequently spend a lot of time complaining about the past?
- Do you frequently race thru the day?
- Do you frequently feel unable to cope with all you have to do.
- Do you frequently put things off until later?
Add up your Yes’s and No and count them. Here are the results:
- Scores of 1-6: Few Hassles
- Scores of 7-12: Pretty Good Control
- Scores of 13-17: Danger Zone. Watch out!
- Scores of 18+: Stressed Out. Slow down and get some help
Take a few minutes to evaluate what’s causing your stress and see if you can’t do something about it. We recommend eliminating one thing in your life that is causing you stress and scheduling one thing to help you decompress. Gotta run and schedule my pedicure appointment. You can do it!
Tags: A Red Bench, Angela Ploetz, Christa Patchen Wagner, Christa Wagner, Stress Test
This was very timely for me, just finishing off a hectic week where everything seemed to take longer than it should, and trying to figure out how to better manage my time. I’m working on creating systems to make things flow better, but that takes time too!
I was pleasantly surprised that my score was in the 7-12 range – I must be doing something right! I know I need to build relaxation into my day (and my life) more often, so I just booked a weekend away with my husband next month. It’s not like a real vacation but it’s better than nothing!