Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life

by Emily Nagoski

coping with stress My three top stressors: 1. 2. 3. How I can tell I’m stressed: Physical Signs of Stress (e.g., digestive upset, jaw tension, etc.) Emotional Signs of Stress (e.g., tearful, easily frustrated, etc.) Cognitive Signs of Stress (e.g., distracted, unfocused, etc.) When I’m feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or exhausted, here’s what helps: Choose one (for now) of the things you just identified and think about what it would take to increase your access to it. Suppose you decided you wanted to use this stress management strategy more. What are some challenges you might face? What are some things you might do to minimize those barriers, if you decided to try using this stress management strategy more? On a scale of 0–10, how IMPORTANT is it to you to increase your access to this stress management strategy? _______ What makes it that important, rather than a little less important? What could potentially happen that would make it MORE important? On a scale of 0–10, how CONFIDENT do you feel that, if you decided to increase your access to this stress management strategy, you could? What makes you that confident, rather than a little less confident? What could potentially happen that would make you feel MORE confident? Given all of that, what’s one thing you will do TODAY that can move you just one step closer to being able to use this stress management strategy more?