How to Track Your Stress Levels

If you’re feeling stressed out more often, you’re hardly alone. Researchers asked US adults to rate their average stress level, with 1 being “little to no stress” and 10 being a “great deal of stress.” A quarter of respondents rated their stress between 8 and 10.¹

These findings highlight the importance of actively managing stress. One effective way to do this is by tracking your stress levels, which can help you identify patterns and triggers that contribute to your stress and evaluate the effectiveness of your coping mechanisms. By noting how activities like exercise, meditation, or spending time with loved ones affect you, you can regain control over your mental and physical health.

Stress comes in various forms. Acute stress is a brief, intense response to immediate stressors, like tight deadlines, public speaking, or traffic jams. This short-term reaction triggers your body’s “fight-or-flight” response, helping you tackle the immediate challenge. Acute stress can build resilience to life’s inevitable stressors.²

Chronic stress, on the other hand, is a prolonged response to persistent stressors such as ongoing financial difficulties, relationship issues, or caregiving responsibilities. Unlike acute stress, chronic stress can have a lasting impact on your mental and physical health, contributing to problems like anxiety, depression, and heart disease.³

Tracking your stress levels helps you distinguish between acute and chronic stress and identify their specific triggers so you can take targeted actions to manage your stress more effectively.

4 Ways to Track Your Stress Levels

1. Heart Rate Variability (HRV)

Heart rate variability (HRV) measures the time differences between heartbeats to show how well your body handles stress, as stress decreases the variation between heartbeats. A higher HRV score usually means you’re fit and can handle stress better, while a lower HRV can indicate you may be stressed out.⁴

When your fight-or-flight response activates, your heart rate is faster and more consistent. In contrast, when you feel relaxed, your HRV increases, showing that your nervous system is balanced and can adapt well to different situations.⁵

There are many options for wearable devices that can measure your HRV. A few popular choices include:

Polar H10: A heart-rate monitor that straps around your chest, providing the most accurate measurements as it’s closest to your heart.
Oura Ring: A wearable ring that tracks HRV along with abundant data like sleep, physical activity, and more.
Whoop Strap: A wrist-worn device that provides in-depth HRV analysis, recovery, and strain metrics.
Apple Watch: Offers HRV tracking through its built-in heart rate monitor and Health app.

When tracking HRV, pay attention to trends over time rather than isolated readings. Look for:

Consistent patterns: Regularly low HRV readings may indicate chronic stress or insufficient recovery.
Daily fluctuations: Variability in HRV can help you understand how daily stressors and activities affect your body. Higher HRV on days you feel well-rested, and lower stress when overworked, can help you adjust your routine.
Recovery insights: Monitoring HRV after workouts can show whether you’re recovering well or pushing too hard (indicating you need more rest).^{6, 7}

2. Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM)

Stress raises hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, which elevate your blood sugar as part of your fight-or-flight response, preparing you to react to a perceived threat. Consistently high blood sugar can lead to insulin resistance, increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes. It can also damage blood vessels, leading to heart disease and other serious health issues.^{8, 9}

A CGM helps identify stress-related patterns in your blood through continuous, round-the-clock monitoring. A small sensor is placed under your skin (usually on your abdomen or arm), measures glucose levels in the fluid between your cells, and sends data to a receiver or smartphone app. This real-time data helps you understand how different foods and activities affect your blood sugar so you can make better-informed dietary decisions.^{10, 11}

When using a CGM to monitor stress, pay attention to the following:

Blood-sugar ranges: Understand your normal blood-sugar range. Most people have normal fasting blood-sugar levels between 70-100 mg/dL. Post-meal levels should ideally be below 140 mg/dL.¹²
Spikes and trends: Look for spikes in your blood-sugar levels unrelated to food intake. A sudden increase could indicate a stress response.
Patterns: Track patterns over time. Consistently high blood-sugar readings, especially during stressful periods, can signal that stress affects your glucose levels.¹³
Daily variations: Note how different activities, sleep patterns, and stressful events correlate with changes in your blood sugar. This can help you identify specific stressors and manage them more effectively.

When selecting a CGM, consider factors like accuracy, ease of use, and compatibility with your smartphone. Look for a CGM with reliable sensors and a user-friendly app that provides clear insights and trends.

Theia Health’s continuous glucose monitor uses advanced wearable sensors to track glucose levels in real time. It’s small—about the size of a nickel—and sticks to the back of your arm, making it much more convenient and less bulky than other monitors. Learn more about Theia Health’s CGM here.

3. Cortisol Test

A cortisol test is a simple and effective way to measure your stress. When you’re under stress, your adrenal glands release cortisol to give you energy, increase your alertness, and help you respond to the challenge.

While this is helpful in short bursts, too much over a long period can lead to health problems like high blood pressure, weight gain, and weakened immune function.^{14, 15}

You can measure cortisol levels in three ways:

Saliva test: Collect saliva samples at home using a kit provided by your healthcare provider or a lab. You’ll usually take samples in the morning, afternoon, and evening to see how your cortisol levels change throughout the day.
Blood test: This involves a simple blood draw at a healthcare facility. They will usually do this in the morning when cortisol levels peak.
Urine test: A 24-hour urine sample can measure cortisol levels over a day.

The Adrenocortex Stress Profile from YourLabwork measures cortisol by taking four saliva samples throughout the day to see your natural cortisol pattern. One sample between 7:00 AM and 9:00 AM also measures DHEA, another stress-related hormone. Learn more about the Adrenocortex Stress Profile here.

4. Blood-Pressure Monitor

When your body releases hormones like adrenaline and cortisol under stress, your heart beats faster and your blood vessels narrow. Over time, this can lead to higher blood pressure. Chronic stress, and thus chronically high blood pressure, increases your risk of heart disease and other health issues.¹⁶

Using a blood-pressure monitor at home is straightforward and can provide valuable insights into how stress affects you.

Choose an automatic, cuff-style, upper-arm blood-pressure monitor. (You can find them online, at a drugstore, or from your doctor.) Avoid caffeine or strenuous activity for at least 30 minutes before you measure, and sit quietly for five minutes to make sure you’re relaxed.

With your back straight and supported, feet flat on the floor, and your arm resting on a table at heart level, follow the monitor’s instructions to place the cuff on your bare upper arm. Take two or three readings, one minute apart, and average the results. Measure your blood pressure at the same times each day to monitor trends.

What to look for:

Normal ranges: A normal blood-pressure reading is around 120/80 mmHg. Readings consistently above 130/80 mmHg may indicate hypertension.¹⁷
Stress-induced spikes: Note any spikes in your blood pressure during stressful situations. If you see a pattern of elevated readings during or after stress, it’s a sign that stress affects your heart health.
Trends over time: Track your readings over weeks and months. Chronic high readings can indicate that stress impacts your health.

Master Your Mindset to Manage Stress

Adopting a positive mindset can improve your ability to cope with unexpected challenges, enhance problem-solving skills, and reduce overwhelming feelings. It promotes better emotional regulation, allowing you to stay calm and focused during stressful situations. Additionally, a positive mindset can improve sleep quality, boost your immune system, and contribute to overall mental and physical health, creating a more balanced and fulfilling life.

In Mindset Mastery: 20 Practices for Power and Purpose, you’ll discover simple, effective ways to incorporate mindset-shifting moments into your daily routine. Combining these mindset practices with stress-tracking tools creates a comprehensive approach to managing stress and enhancing overall well-being.

Get Mindset Mastery: 20 Practices for Power and Purpose for free here.

References:

American Psychological Association: Stress in America 2023
UCF Health: Acute vs. Chronic Stress | Orlando
Mayo Clinic: Chronic stress puts your health at risk
Cleveland Clinic: Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
Kim HG, Cheon EJ, Bai DS, Lee YH, Koo BH. Stress and Heart Rate Variability: A Meta-Analysis and Review of the Literature. Psychiatry Investig. 2018 Mar;15(3):235-245. doi: 10.30773/pi.2017.08.17. Epub 2018 Feb 28. PMID: 29486547; PMCID: PMC5900369.
Li K, Cardoso C, Moctezuma-Ramirez A, Elgalad A, Perin E. Heart Rate Variability Measurement through a Smart Wearable Device: Another Breakthrough for Personal Health Monitoring? Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Dec 6;20(24):7146. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20247146. PMID: 38131698; PMCID: PMC10742885.
Cleveland Clinic: Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
Sharma K, Akre S, Chakole S, Wanjari MB. Stress-Induced Diabetes: A Review. Cureus. 2022 Sep 13;14(9):e29142. doi: 10.7759/cureus.29142. PMID: 36258973; PMCID: PMC9561544.
National Institutes of Health: Diabetes, Heart Disease, & Stroke – NIDDK
National Institutes of Health: Continuous Glucose Monitoring – NIDDK
Cleveland Clinic: Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM): What It Is
Campbell University: Blood Glucose Monitoring
Healthline: Why Does Stress Cause High Blood Sugars?
Thau L, Gandhi J, Sharma S. Physiology, Cortisol. [Updated 2023 Aug 28]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538239/
Cleveland Clinic: Cortisol: What It Is, Function, Symptoms & Levels
Mayo Clinic: Stress and high blood pressure: What’s the connection?
WebMD: Diastole vs. Systole: Know Your Blood Pressure Numbers

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration. Products mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The views in this blog by JJ Virgin should never be used as a substitute for professional medical advice. Please work with a healthcare practitioner concerning any medical problem or concern.

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