Take The Epic Stress Quiz – The First Step to Change

Do feel overwhelmed with stress? Welcome to a new five part series on combating stress. This article is the first stage to help you identify areas of your life which cause you stress. Keep reading and get pen and paper ready to take the epic stress quiz. This series is about discovering and understanding the source or root of the stress you are experiencing. Once you are aware and better understand the stress in your life, you are more equipped to do something differently to manage your stress.

What to expect from this series on stress:

Week 1 – Today we are going to look at areas in your life that cause you stress.
Week 2 – Next week we will understand why you are stressed in certain areas of your life by understanding what matters to you in life.
Week 3 – We will find out if there are areas of your life which are conflicting to what means most to you.
Week 4 – We will set goals for change to better manage identified stress areas.
Week 5 – We will put these goals into action and review.

I hope you will get a lot out of this series. Please get in touch with any comments.

Take the stress quiz below to identify the areas of your life that cause you excessive stress. It is important to remember that we all have stress in our lives and it is part of being human. We are not trying to have no stress, as this would be impossible. It is normal to experience daily stressors. In fact there is much research to say that humans thrive on a certain level of stress. When our level of stress becomes excessive we can start to feel overwhelmed, hopeless, panicked, unhealthy. We may act or think in ways which make our stress worse. This is why it is so helpful to understand the root of our stress and adopt better ways of managing.

Take the Stress Quiz

This quiz aims to highlight which areas would be helpful for you to explore further. Please think about each area in relation to the last month or so. Ask yourself if you have felt stressed, overwhelmed or worried about the following areas below. Please choose not stressed, manageable stress, or a lot of stress for each area.

Stressor 1 – Relationships

(examples may include but are not limited to arguments, separation, divorce, death, birth, illness, disability, accidents, infidelity, bullying, gossip, demands on time, children leaving home, difficult behaviour, crime, loneliness, low self-esteem)

Your partner	Not stressed	Manageable stress	A lot of stress
Your family	Not stressed	Manageable stress	A lot of stress
Your friends	Not stressed	Manageable stress	A lot of stress
Your neighbours	Not stressed	Manageable stress	A lot of stress
Your colleagues	Not stressed	Manageable stress	A lot of stress
Your self	Not stressed	Manageable stress	A lot of stress

Please write down details of any identified stressors from relationships

Stressor 2 – Finances and Housing

(examples may include but are not limited to debt, mortgage difficulties, moving home, refurbishment, big spending, bills, lowered income, benefits, redundancy)

Finances	Not stressed	Manageable stress	A lot of stress
Housing	Not stressed	Manageable stress	A lot of stress

Please write down details of any identified stressors from finances and housing

Stressor 3 – Health Concerns

(examples may include but are not limited to illness, use of alcohol, drugs, tobacco, exercise and diet, weight, tiredness, poor sleep, medication side effects, pregnancy or not able to get pregnant, exposure to chemicals, pollution, weather, colds and flus, hormones, sexual relations)

Health Concerns

Not stressed

Manageable stress

A lot of stress

Please write down details of any identified stressors from health concerns

Stressor 4 – Work

(examples may include but are not limited to responsibilities, promotion, work demands, working hours, commute, physical labour, prolonged sitting, standing, walking, lifting, screen use, telephone use, loud environment, lack of stimulation or career prospects, not feeling fulfilled, exploited, mis-management)

Work

Not stressed

Manageable stress

A lot of stress

Please write down details of any identified stressors from work

Stressor 5 – Lifestyle and Free Time

(examples may include but are not limited to not having enough time, not able to do hobbies or interests, not enough time for loved ones, not enough holidays and days off, not being active, not feeling part of community or contributing, spirituality, religious practice)

Lifestyle and Free Time

Not stressed

Manageable stress

A lot of stress

Please write down details of any identified stressors from lifestyle and Free time

Stressor 6 – Other

Any other areas you are aware of stress please write down details

What does the stress quiz tell you?

Firstly look at the positives. Acknowledge the areas where you are not stressed or are managing your stress. If you have identified areas you are experiencing a lot of stress, these are the areas you may want to explore and understand further. Please don’t feel stressed about how much stress you have identified. You have got this far in the article so you are ready and motivated to look at ways to better manage your stress. We will continue our exploration in next week’s article by looking at what matters to you – for this article click here.

If you would like ideas for managing your stress now, please have a look at my previous blog articles including Stress and the body.

Please like and share if you have found this article helpful. Until next week, have a good one.

Thank you to Luke Bennett Photography for this week’s feature image.