What’s all this about buckets and taps? The stress bucket analogy or model is designed to help people understand their stress tolerance, as well as the strategies they can use to ensure their ‘bucket’ or tolerance doesn’t reach capacity.
The size of our ‘bucket’ will depend on our own personal context. For example our genes, personality and lived experiences. Everyone’s bucket will be slightly different.
The ‘water’ that fills our buckets, is an analogy for the combination of the stresses in our life. We cannot change the size of our budget. However, we can develop coping strategies to keep our bucket from overflowing – these are our ‘taps’ or stress relievers. The more taps we can identify, the more options we will have to release our stresses.
Common stressors include:
Work
Family
Financial Problems
Significant Life Event(s)
Health
Our taps will also be unique to our own personal experiences, context and resources. It is good to have a range of stress relievers in range of domains or areas. This means we can pick the most appropriate tap for that particular moment.
It is important to recognise that we can sometimes use taps which aren’t beneficial in the long term, but will provide a short term relief. Engaging in these activities will often just refill our bucket once the instant relief is felt.
Taps that might refill our bucket include things such as eating junk food, refusing to leave our bed, engaging in self destructive behaviour(s) or biting our nails.
Finding taps that offer us a healthy and functional response to stress is important for long term wellbeing. They will also empower us to have more control over our responses.
We can breakdown our taps into the following 5 domains.
Emotional
Physical
Cognitive
Material / Practical
Social
Spiritual
Below I have listed some of my own examples – however, spent time explicitly exploring what your taps are. By recognising them, writing them down or practising them, we will become more accustomed to using them in times of crisis.
Emotional
Stress will almost always result in an emotional response. It’s important to remember that allowing ourselves to have an emotional response is okay and will actually often make us feel better. When we have an emotional response, we need to ensure we are in a safe environment and place. Once that initial response is finished, we can often then engage in some of the other ‘taps’ more successfully.
Physical
Physical activity, such as exercise or movement is concerned with intentional physical activity, rather than just the activity we normally do in our daily lives. Dog walking is a daily activity for me. However, nothing makes me feel better than an extra long walk, taking in the nature and the fresh air. Pets can offer us companionship, purpose as well as motivation to get active! Here’s Marshall, who just turned 1 years old, my golden retriever.
Material and Practical
Engaging in practical activities or with material items can offer a healthy distraction or help return us to calm. Engaging in activities often then allows us space to think through the causes of our stress, manage our reaction as well as problem solve more effectively.
Happiful is a recent magazine I discovered while scrolling the internet. The magazine is on a mission ‘to help create a happier, healthier and more sustainable society’. Each month the magazine includes a colourful collection of articles, as well as activities readers can complete themselves. It is a positive escape from the day to day.
When I was younger I never really played many video games other than the occasional Super Mario or Sonic the Hedgehog. However, as an adult I have discovered a love for ‘cosy gaming’. These are games that focus on non-violence and relaxation – with often an element of building something or community. There’s lots of different games out there for every interest. Again, offering an escape and a time to pause.
Living by the coast in Hampshire, we are blessed with the opportunity to not only have regular access to the New Forest, but also a wide selection of beaches and costal towns. Taking Marshall for a walk, or heading out for a coffee or sandwich is an easy activity that quickly refocuses the mind. It also offers the opportunity to share your problems in a neutral space with a friend or partner.
Cognitive
Engaging in cognitive activities, such as problem solving or finding solutions to our problems is an effective way to manage stress. However, this can be extremely challenging when we consider the impact of stress (distraction / forgetfulness). Reading certainly does help me. I’m currently reading Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s ‘How to transform your life: a blissful journey’.
Spiritual
Our spiritual or religious beliefs are deeply personal, and can offer a huge amount of support when faced with adversity or stress. Mindfulness or meditation offers a safe and effective way of regaining control over our thoughts and often the physical side effects of stress. For beginners, an app like Insight Timer can be a useful starting point. The app contains a huge library of content, including lessons, mediations, music and guided sessions.
Taking control
A key aspect of responding to stress is regaining control when you feel things are out of control. There is only certain things we can truly control, and it is important to recognise there is a huge amount of things which we can only influence. The things which are out of our control cannot be changed. However, we can change how we react, think and move on. This is key for managing adversity and stress.
The blog post was written to support the session: The Stress Bucket: An Approach for Managing Stress. Further resources can be downloaded below:
None of the content or links in this post are affiliated.
Are you passionate about fostering creativity and knowledge sharing? I’m seeking your generous support to enable me to continue to offer free training and resources to those who support children and young people with additional needs. If you feel you would like to donate and can, please follow the link below: