Stress Score & Assessment

Part 1: Discovering Your Stress Score

For each of the following sections, select the category that best describes your experience, on most days.

Question 1: Each morning when I wake up, I feel; 

  • Great, refreshed, light , excited, engaged, calm, clear, hopeful, joyful, enthusiastic, curious, creative, alive, slept well  (Score = 1)

  • Tired, hitting the snooze, sluggish, rushed, “where’s the coffee?”, “is it the weekend yet?” (Score = 2)

  • Bleary-eyed, exhausted, slept poorly, anxious about the day ahead, dragging your butt, dreading your to-do list, panic (Score =3)

My Score______

Question 2: Each night (after the workday/before I go to bed), I feel;  

  • Satisfied, pleasantly tired, gratitude, falling asleep easily once my head hits the pillow (Score = 1)

  • Binging videos or scrolling, falling asleep as soon as I stop moving, waking up on the couch, crashing (Score = 2)

  • Exhausted, burning the midnight oil, feeling like I didn’t get enough done, promising myself that I’ll get to it tomorrow, difficulty falling asleep even though I’m dead tired (Score = 3)

My Score: ________

Question 3: When I think about how I handle my stress, these things are a part of my regular stress management protocol;  

  • Yoga, meditation, affirmations, time with friends/loved ones, fun, time in nature throughout the week (Score = 1)

  • Bootcamps, kick-butt workouts, a steady stream of podcasts or personal development books, a binge-fest of my favourite new show, a glass or two of wine/use of recreational drugs throughout the week OR occasional practices such as; meditation, time in nature, affirmations  (Score = 2)

  • Good intentions but “No time to practice or fit another thing in my day”, frustrated, difficulty committing to something, unused memberships, a stack of books (queue of podcasts) waiting for me, missed classes (Score = 3)

My Score: _______

Part 2: Your Stress Score

Total your score for each question

This is your Stress Score

Part 3: Assessing Your Score

Understanding your score 

Now that you’ve discovered your Stress Score, you’ve got a powerful bit of information!

But information without insight is just DATA. Review the following assessment for your Stress Score category for meaningful insight AND practical next steps!

If you scored a 3 or 4:  

You’ve got a good thing going!  Your stress management hygiene is serving you well.  The consistency of your practices is allowing you to release and alleviate the stresses you encounter as a normal part of your day.  

Continue: 

Doing the things you love and prioritizing balance.  

Caution: 

Practice self-awareness!  Our stress resilience or capacities can change over time, as do our schedules and demands for our time - what is working well now may not always work in the same way for you.  Regular check-ins AND variety in routine can help keep things fresh and can also serve to highlight where you may be prone.  

Consider:

Whether you knew you had a Stress Management routine or just thought you were being healthy, setting good boundaries, had balance, or maybe just luck - things are going well for you.  

Good Stress Management Hygiene is as important as brushing your teeth or eating well.  The truth is that most people don’t think about it - until they’ve got a problem.  But that’s not you!  You’ve completed this Stress Assessment Tool and so I KNOW you’re thinking about Stress.  With this awareness you’re ready to build a foundation that keeps you off the hamster-wheel so that you’re creating a “Stress-Less” life? 

If you scored 5 or 6: 

You are self-aware and have some practical tools in place for self-care and stress management.  But things that used to work really well for you aren’t seeming to do the trick any more.  You know there are factors that are contributing to your decline in energy and focus.  You also know that your time/schedule doesn’t feel like your own anymore. You get a good blast of energy from your work-out but you worry that you can’t get to it as often as you’d like.   Frustration may be sneaking in when you have to skip a workout or a meditation.  You’re  feeling like things are slipping out of your control.  

Continue: 

All these feelings you’re noticing (including your decline in energy) is telling me you’ve got some great self-awareness.  Continue to pause to reflect and tune-in to those feelings several times a day. 

Caution: 

You are already noticing that the things that you used to do to feel better aren’t working as well as they used to.  The effectiveness of self-care and stress-resilience practices will shift as our life gets busy and our stress levels increase.   This is a sign that your Stress-Stack is building.  You are self-aware and so your inclination might be to FIX the problem by doubling down on things like boot camps , books/podcasts, wellness trackers and programs.  Going to battle with the problem (and likely all the things you think are causing you stress) will actually compound the problem.  Tap into your self-awareness and try something gentle and easy instead.  Un-packing that Stress-Stack with simple, practical approaches is going to make a HUGE difference!  

Consider:

Find things that fit into the spaces in your busy life - even better, incorporate stress-reset practices into the things you’re going to be doing anyways.  Instead of going to battle with the problem, the right tools used, consistency and support will provide ease and convenience - which will increase your calm and clarity.  Now that’s a WIN!  

If you scored 7, 8 or 9   

Ok, real talk here.  There is no doubt that stress, overwhelm and burnout is pervasive in your life.  You wouldn’t be here if Stress weren’t top of mind for you.  And I’ll bet you’ve been searching and searching for a path forward - for something to finally work so you can FEEL BETTER!  

Continue: 

I know you’ve been searching for a fix - something to stop the Sunday scaries, the waking up at 3am and dreading the day ahead, the burning the candle at both ends, the constant feeling of panic and anxiousness, not to mention the nagging worry about how this is all affecting your health.  

You’re used to being able to figure things out - trust me, I know this feeling.  It can be really scary when you don’t know what the solution is.  Your curiosity might be feeling like desperation, but I love that you’re open minded enough to consider that there is a better way - and you are determined to find it.  This is a great thing!  

Caution: 

Chances are you feel like you’re on a hamster wheel and don’t know how to get off.  The reason for this is that your nervous system is agitated.  You’re caught in the “fight or flight” cycle and I know your tendency is to sign up for everything - but I don’t want you to do that right now.  Neither do I want you to think things are hopeless!  You recognize that you are STRESSED, and because of that self-awareness, you are also in the perfect place to finally transform it!  

Consider:

You don’t need MORE things to do, you need a step by step approach that allows you to release, reset, and rebuild on a Stress-Less foundation.  I know you’re longing for a simple way to feel more CALM and EASE - and you can do exactly that with practical and effective guidance and support.  

Understanding your Stress Score is a GREAT first step!!

Did the descriptions and assessment resonate with you? Perhaps you’d like to dig a little deeper or