At times, you may feel that there is nothing that you can do about the stress in your work or personal life. No matter how stressful a situation may be, each one of us has the ability to take charge of our lifestyle, thoughts, emotions and the strategies we use to address problems as a way of relieving pressure and regaining some control of our lives.
As a result, the Workplace Wellness Committee is challenging employees to Take Charge of Stress by taking the following steps:
- Enhance your knowledge of stress.
Review the five (5) information sheets that are part of the Take Charge of Stress Campaign.
- Enhance your awareness of your level of stress and your stressors.
The "Stress Screener" (Mental Health America) and the "What’s Your Stress Index" (Canadian Mental Health Association) are two tools that you can use to enhance your awareness of your level of stress and your stressors.
Mental Health America: Stress Screener - This tool consists of 15 multiple choice questions.
Canadian Mental Health Association: What’s Your Stress Index? - This tool consists of 25 multiple choice questions.
- Incorporate two (2) stress coping strategies into your life over the next month
- Review the Information Sheet # 5 (How can you take charge of stress) (.pdf) and Information Sheet # 4 (Technostress: Social Media and Emails) (.pdf) to identify 2 new stress coping strategies that you want to incorporate into your life over the next month.
- Introduce the first coping strategy in week 1 and the second strategy in week 2.
- Continue both strategies over the period of 4 weeks. At the end of the month, assess the effectiveness of these strategies and consider re-taking the tool you took in step 2.
- Make a commitment to continue these strategies and/or introduce new ones beyond this personal 4-week challenge.
Example 1 – Get Moving
Continue the coping strategies introduced in week 1 and 2. At the end of week 4, assess the effectiveness of the strategies and identify any other strategies that you want to introduce into your life beyond the four week personal challenge.
Example 2 – Disconnect from Technology
Continue the coping strategies introduced in week 1 and 2. At the end of week 4, assess the effectiveness of the strategies and identify any other strategies that you want to introduce into your life beyond the four week personal challenge.