Personal Action Plan for Dealing with Stress (Individual Assignment) Description : Create a personal action plan for stress management for yourself. It should include daily, weekly, and monthly...

1.

Identify your sources of stress along with a means of addressing them.

Do you have a real problem that needs solving, habits or attitudes that need to be changed, relationships that could benefit from a different approach, or a job you don’t like? Is your work repetitive, emotionally taxing, or not stimulating enough? Are you just too busy?

You may not be able to deal with all your sources of stress right now. If you try to address too much at once, you may just create more stress for yourself! Review your list and ask yourself what is in your power to change, or begin to change, over the course of the next month. This plan is intended to help you manage your life and become more prepared for successful relationships with the people, activities, and the tasks you face every day. The purpose isnotto cram in activities to impress your instructor.

Why is it important to identify your sources of stress?

Many people cope by ignoring problems, but this doesn’t make them go away. Avoiding things that cause us stress can be as simple as procrastinating on a school assignment or waiting until the last possible minute to study for an exam. The problem with avoiding your problems is the stress of them doesn’t disappear while you are ignoring them – it simply builds up.

What can you do to address your problems?

For tips on how to reduce stress at work

For tips on how to get organized

For tips on how to stop procrastinating

2.

Avoid stress when possible

Sometimes we walk into stressful situations with our eyes wide open – agreeing to spend time with someone who is a bad influence or who treats us badly, visiting places that upset us, or engaging in activities we do not enjoy, aren’t good for us, or cause us undue anxiety. It’s okay to avoid these things. What people, places, things, or memories should you avoid?

3.

Let Some Things Go

Some problems you can fix, and others you can’t. You can’t change the heavy workload of the MPA program, so complaining about it won’t help. Spending time worrying or complaining about things that are outside of your control depletes your energy and negatively impacts your attitude. Do you take things too personally and feel bad about things that really have little to do with you? It takes effort, but this energy-wasting habit should be dropped too. What can you let go?

4.

Exercise

Stress creates a “flight or fight” response in the body, triggering the release of stress hormones that cause your breath to quicken, your heart to race, and your muscles to tighten. Over time, these stress responses can cause or exacerbate many serious health problems. Exercise is a healthy way to deal with stress, and exercising, in some form or other, is recommended every day. How can you incorporate some exercise into your life, if you don’t already? What physical activities do you enjoy, and what can you reasonably commit to?