April is Stress Awareness Month

Admittedly, I had no idea until I was doing some research on best practices for mental and emotional health while I was writing The KPIs of Life. When I learned about this annual time for awareness I dove deep into what it was all about.

According to stress.org, the pimary aims of Stress Awareness Month are to:

1. Increase understanding of stress

2. Empower improvement with practical tools

3. Create open dialogue about stress

4. Provide guidance and resources on managing stress

"9 out of 10 adults experienced high or extreme levels of pressure and stress in the last year".

Read that again. Not some adults. Not struggling adults. Nine in ten. That's the finding from Mental Health UK's Burnout Report 2026, based on polling of over 4,500 adults. (Source: Mental Health UK, Burnout Report 2026) And the number hasn't budged in three consecutive years — which means people are not in a stress spike. People are in a stress baseline. This is just how many people live now.

From Awareness to Action

Stress Awareness Month has been observed every April since 1992. For most of its history, the goal was simple: get people talking about stress, remove the stigma, and raise awareness. That work mattered. But awareness without action is just a well-informed version of suffering.

This year's theme, #BeTheChange, builds on 2025's #LeadWithLove by asking the next critical question: now that we know how to approach ourselves and others with compassion, what will we actually do? How will we turn awareness into action? (Source: The Stress Management Society, stress.org.uk)

For as many problems as we have in this world today, I'm all about action. So along with leading by example, I also wanted to take actions by sharing some insights and perspectives with others so that is what brought me to write this blog.

Who's Carrying the Weight

The data from the Burnout Report 2026 is worth sitting with because it's not abstract — it's the people around you (or across the pond). Adults aged 25–34 are now the most likely to report high or extreme stress, with 96% affected in the past year based on the study. Young adults in the workforce aged 18–24 aren't far behind — 93% experienced high or extreme stress, and 39% needed time off due to poor mental health caused by stress. (Source: Mental Health UK Burnout Report 2026)

An even deeper look showed that women are disproportionately affected — 96% of women reported high or extreme stress in the past year, compared with 86% of men. (Source: Mental Health UK Burnout Report 2026)

One in five workers took time off due to poor mental health caused by stress. And here's the part that should concern every manager and leader reading this: 35% of workers said they are not comfortable telling their manager or senior leader they are experiencing high or extreme stress. (Source: Mental Health UK Burnout Report 2026)

The stress is visible everywhere except in the conversations that could actually address it so my call to action for myself and other people leaders out there —

#BeTheChange and create means for people to share their sentiments with you both privately and anonymously. One way I plan to do this is to send out a simple quantitative survey I created using Typeform. Click here to check it out.

The Myth of the Grand Gesture

Like most of life, it's not the end that we should focus on, but the journey itself. What I mean by that is, life is all about habits — small, consistent, daily actions that gradually rewire us. And when it comes to stress, habits determine how our nervous system responds to pressure. Small everyday actions have been shown to improve overall wellbeing, and while the impact of small actions on their own may seem little, the cumulative effects of these habits can end up being profound.

That's not motivational poster language. That's neuroscience. Your brain physically reshapes itself based on the habits you repeat, not the retreats you attend.

The point I'm making is that idea of managing our stress is simple: pick one stress management action and commit to it for 30 days. Track progress, reflect weekly, and celebrate completion. With Google and ChatGPT finding actions is as simple as searching for them but here are a few recommendations from yours truly. Take what you need.

Healthy Stress Management Habits

This isn't a list of things you should be doing. It's a menu. Pick one. Do it for 30 days. Then pick another when you feel ready.

• The Digital Sunset: Screens off one hour before bed. No phone, no laptop, no TV. Health experts have established a clear guideline backed by substantial evidence: powering down all screens at least one to two hours before sleep allows your body to produce melatonin naturally, which is often suppressed by screen exposure. It is not just a break from work — it is a biological necessity that ensures your brain can enter the deep sleep phases required for emotional processing which strongly impacts our stress levels.

  
  

  This is the highest-leverage five-minute decision you can make tonight. You're not cutting productivity. You're protecting the mental infrastructure that makes productivity possible.

• The 10-Minute Midday Walk Not a workout. Not a run. A simple walk. Outside, if you can manage it. The research on brief movement as a stress intervention is extensive — even a short walk lowers cortisol, resets focus, and creates a psychological boundary between the morning's pressure and the afternoon's demands. Block it in your calendar like a meeting you can't cancel. I literally have an alarm set each day that simply says:

Go touch grass. Meaning, go outside and smell the flowers.

• The Daily Grounding Anchor Pick one moment in the day — morning coffee, lunchtime, before bed — and spend five minutes completely off the clock. No screens, no task list, no input. Just you and something that grounds you: a journal, a prayer, a few deep breaths, or simply sitting still (no, scrolling reels on TikTok does not count here). The specifics matter less than the consistency. What you're training is the ability to be present on purpose — which is the opposite of what chronic stress does to your brain.

Your Free Resource

The Stress Management Society has built a full suite of free tools to support this month — including a 30-day challenge you can start today. Take 5 minutes to check it out → stress.org.uk

Will Everett is the author of The KPIs of Life. Follow along at thekpisoflife.com and on socials @thekpisoflife.