You might not have realized it, but we all have a unique way of managing stress. Yes, even you have a stress management style! The question is: Do you know what yours is?
Let me give you a few examples of different stress management styles:
- Adapt: “I’ll figure out how to adjust to this new situation.”
- Minimize: “It’s not that bad. I’ll just act like it’s no big deal.”
- Distract: Eating, drinking, binge-watching TV—anything to avoid thinking about the stress.
- Ignore: Simply not acknowledging the stress at all.
- Face it: Confronting stress head-on and dealing with it directly.
How to Identify Your Stress Management Style
To better understand your style, try this simple exercise:
1. Grab a sheet of paper and divide it into three columns.
2. Column #1: Write down all of your stressors—everything that’s currently causing you stress.
3. Column #2: For each stressor, jot down the signs that show you’re stressed. How does your body react physically? What are you thinking and feeling emotionally? How do you behave in response to each stressor? Do this for every stressor on your list.
As you fill out this column, patterns will start to emerge. Are the same physical symptoms popping up? Do certain emotional or mental signs keep repeating? What behaviors do you notice when dealing with stress?
4. Column #3: Label each reaction with the style it best fits—adapting, minimizing, distracting, ignoring, or facing.
By the time you finish, you’ll have a much clearer picture of your personal stress management style. You’ll also start to see which approaches you tend to rely on and which might not be serving you as well as you'd like.
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