Stress Management Plan Assignment

Assignment Purpose:

The purpose of this exercise is to explore ways of managing stress to reduce strain. (Ch. 7 of our textbook covers this.)
This presentation, particularly slides 24-28
, can be used as a walkthrough of this assignment. There are five required sections, each of which is worth 2 points, for a total of 10 points possible. Each section should be filled out in detail in order to receive full credit. (See the For Credit section on how to format your assignment.)

Prep Work:

Before you get started, go to the File menu (should be up in the top left of your screen) here in this Google Document and Make a Copy of this file. Save that to your computer so you can edit it. Note: Save it out as an MS Word or PDF file before you upload it to the Assignment Dropbox!

Fill out the following four sections IN DETAIL!

1: Reducing Hindrance Stressors (2 points)

One method of managing stress is finding a way to reduce the hindrance stressors encountered in your life (typically at your job, but in your case school related examples may be more stressful/relevant). Fill in the two to three most negative stressors you are experiencing. Then provide a potential strategy you can use to reduce or alleviate that stress.

Add more cells to include additional stressors.

Hindrance Stressors	Coping Strategy
	*Ideas:* We approve approaches like StruggleCare + the principles of Lazy Genius as both are very tightly aligned to a values-based existence even if they’re championed by accidental practitioners of these science-backed ideas (a values-based existence can be a game changer in terms of leading to personal fulfillment and high well-being in work and life. Mark Manson writes about this in a very relatable way, but cites his sources, so we approve of him too if you want to get an overview of these ideas.) We all know what we’re supposed to do, but that doesn’t make it attainable or something we will follow through with – so look for your ways that WILL work for you. If you’re new to considering your values and want to look into it, VIA Character Strengths has decent validity (for your top ones in the list, not what goes toward the bottom – typical for these scales).

2: Improve Work-Life Balance (2 points)

Another method of improving stress is improving work-life balance. Include the current breakdown of your main work-life activities (make sure it adds up to about 100%) and then re-distribute with your ideal balance. Then include a potential strategy for achieving your desired work-life balance. You can use a pie chart if you like or just list the percentages.

1. Current Work-Life Balance:

2. Desired Work-Life Balance:

3. Strategy for Changing Work-Life Balance:

3: Improve Hardiness/Resilience (2 points)

One of the last ways to manage stress is to improve your hardiness or resilience, a type of mental and physical health that acts as a buffer for the negative effects of stress, preventing it from resulting in strain. Use this little table for diagnosing some aspects of your own hardiness and brainstorm some ways to increase it.

Hardiness Factor	Current State (Rate Yourself on a scale of 0 to 10, with ‘10’ being yes, you do the things outlined in the prompts, and ‘0’ meaning you don’t them at all.)	Strategy to Increase
Relaxation	· Do you spend enough time doing those things you find truly relaxing? Reading, listening to music, meditating, pursuing your hobbies?
Exercise	· Do you spend enough time doing cardio, strength, and flexibility sorts of exercises? · If you have health problems or your job could cause RSI (e.g. carpal tunnel), do you exercise to prevent further health issues?	*Example of a small, actionable goal that could be habit stacked easily:* When it comes to movement, any is better than none. I wouldn’t shoot for 30 minutes off the bat, but focus on starting to do just 2 minutes or whatever of something you like. Just dancing around to two songs you like is 10 minutes of cardio! Or stretching, or doing body weight movements. Set REALLY SMALL goals to start and try to habit stack. Tie one thing to one you already do, that’s the best strategy for successful change. (Like I do squats while I brush my teeth every day, stacking two habits together.)
Diet	· Do you manage your diet adequately (typically this means by eating healthily, remaining hydrated, and avoiding high fat foods/excesses of sugar/salt/etc.)?

4: Reflection (2 points)

· Given how much time and effort some of the strategies might be to implement, do you think you should?

· Does the time and other tradeoffs you have to make (like reducing your work productivity, etc.) reduce the effectiveness of the potential strategies for you? (In other words, do you actually plan to do any of them?) Answer briefly.

· Remember, doing ONE small change at a time is often much more effective for changing lifestyles or building long term habits than trying to change too much.

· Vague large scale ‘should’ statements without clear methods you could follow (small, tiny changes stick best, do one at a time for 30 or so days before adding another to actually effect lifestyle change, especially habit stacking).

· Balance is sometimes just straight up not attainable. Right now might be survival vs. balance time – and that’s ok! Just be realistic and state that’s the case vs. just vaguely writing some shoulds. (That is a more useful exercise in the long run.)

5: References (2 points)

· You must include a references section formatted in APA style. See the Assignments, Grading & OCBs page on our Course Home page for more details.

For Credit

Turn your prep work into a memo I can easily read. It should be written in a professional tone, as if for your boss or supervisor. Include your responses to all of the five sections above, with particular emphasis on your reflection. (Tables, graphics are encouraged.)

Upload your completed document (e.g., contains all five sections, is written well and is free of typos, misspellings, grammar errors) to the Assignment Dropbox: Stress Management Plans (in D2L). Your file must be either an MS Word file or a PDF.

Performance Rating/Grading

Each of the 5 sections listed above will be rated using our standard course performance appraisal which is a 0-2 scale, for a total of 10 possible points.

We will be looking closely for thoroughness and application of course concepts in appraising each section – clarity can also affect this rating. You will lose points if your references are not included and are not in APA format.

Additional Ideas & Resources

There is
an ideal level of cognitive arousal
(stress increases our cognitive arousal) that produces optimal performance – so it’s not that we want to have zero stress in our lives, but we want to ensure it’s not a hindrance.
NC State University has a great description
of how to tell when your stress reactions are past that ideal level (negative symptoms) and some ideas on what to do about it.

Homework 305