For the past few weeks you have been reading and talking about the mechanics and manifestations of stress. Now it is time to practice putting a bit of what you have been learning into action. For this first Learning Activity (LA1) you will need your textbook, your workbook (found on the Navigate site), and 2 or 3 scholarly sources of  information (journals, professionally vetted internet material, or other scholarly publications).

What we are doing:
You are going to choose and use three (3) worksheets in your workbook to first, identify some of your personal stressors, and second, evaluate how well you think these worksheets work for you. Notice how this assignment ties into your PSMJ2? Consider how you might use this assignment to raise your personal awareness about the stressor you have picked to focus on for PSMJ2.

Why we are doing this activity:
As you may have read in your textbook, we are not always aware that we are stressed or how that stress is manifesting itself. Part of the purpose of this activity is for you to start learning more about yourself and what you can do to better care for you. The second purpose of the activity is for you to start practicing skills to critically assess resources for yourself.

Instructions:
You will be writing a short, formal paper (500 words or more) which will include the following:
1. Choose and complete three workbook exercises from chapters 1-8 in your workbook. Be sure to include all of the following information about the workbook exercises in your paper: the title, page number, purpose, and the (abbreviated) results for each exercise. Remember — the workbook is a source and so is your textbook! You will need to cite and reference in APA these appropriately.
Respond to the following prompts for each workbook exercise:

a) why did you choose to complete this exercise?

b) what you hoped to find out by completing this exercise?

c) Did the results provide you with information/insight/understanding you expected?

Describe what your feelings were as you worked through each of the exercises. Discuss your reactions to the results.

Combine your experience/reactions to the exercises and respond to the following prompts:

What were the benefits your gained from the exercises? If there were’t benefits — than talk about this.

will you or will not put the results into action? and why/why not?

How will you apply the results of these exercises to your personal stress management?

For the conclusion, I want you to look for 2-3 scholarly references which relate to the stressors you want to mange (for example — if you are looking at time-management — find articles related to this topic) and talk about how you can merge what you learned from the completing the worksheets with what you learn from the articles. Consider how intra-personal work — learning about self through these worksheets — can be supported by reading formal work and research done by others. How does putting these to sources of information together further your personal work to manage your stress more healthfully?