Identifying Your Needs
One effective stress management technique involves identifying needs essential to your well-being and happiness, and communicating those effectively to others.

Here is a list of potential personal needs. Check 4-6 needs that are most important to YOU.
List additional needs if necessary

  Sleep
  Exercise
  Social interaction
  Time alone
  Structured time (routine)
  Closure (completion of projects)
  Food
  Music
  Unstructured time (freedom from routine)
  Sex
  Time for a hobby
  Reading
  Opportunity to give and do for others
  Everything in its place
  Touching
  Appreciation by others
  Territory (space/ belongings that are strictly yours)
  Challenge
  Resolution

Others:  

Identifying Stresses and Ways to Cope
Stress comes from a variety of sources which must be dealt with in a variety of ways; First, identify the areas in your life which cause the most stress:

  Children                                   
  Low self esteem                          
  Parents
  Divorce/ Separation                          
  Spouse/significant other                        
  Moving
  Work circumstances                          
  Not looking the way you want     
  Co-worker
  Boss                                                    
  Traffic                                           
  Lack of exercise
  Lack of sleep                          
  Financial                                      
  Physical illness
  Not enough hours in the day    
  Unfulfilled expectations            
  Can’t say ‘no’
  No time to yourself

Others:  

                                                                                                                              
Now lets focus on negative responses to stress which can actually increase your stress levels
(check those that apply):

  Overeating                        
  Crying                                    
  Yelling at someone
  Nervousness           
  Drinking                                 
  Smoking
  Prescription Drugs                       
  Avoiding others                    
  Not eating enough
  Overachieving                  
  Poor decision making                     
  Saying things you don’t mean

Others :                                                                                                                              

Part of learning to manage stress involves learning to redirect your behavior by employing healthy coping mechanisms. These would involve things like:

  Exercise                            
  Going to a movie                  
  Calling a friend
  Writing a letter                  
  Listening to music                
  Writing in a diary or journal
  Playing with your child     
  Reading                                
  Drawing
  Shopping                          
  Fishing                                  
  Hobby
  Cleaning out a closet       
  Delaying discussing a stressful topic until everyone is calm

Others:  

Sometimes stressful situations sneak up on us, and we all have times when we don’t handle stress as well as we’d like to. But you can learn to deal more effectively with stress and lessen tits effect on your physical health. One method is to think about how you’ve handled (or mishandled) difficult situations in the past, and actually plan how to do better next time!

I hope this has helped to identify what your needs are and how you would like to better handle the stressors in your life.

Info and worksheets taken from Dr Poppers “How Stress Affects the Body.”