How does the 4 A's framework help with stress?
Written by
Stella Nilsson
Reviewed by
Prof. William Dalton, Ph.D.The 4 A's framework provides a systematic way to manage everyday pressure. It places stressors into four categories. This practice helps to eliminate the confusion of how you will respond. You carefully evade stressors by adapting to manageable conditions and accepting circumstances that cannot be changed. This organized method provides stability to random patterns of stress.
To remove unnecessary stressors means to eliminate stressors that aren't necessary. Say no to commitments that aren't necessary and are putting pressure on your time. Mute social media accounts that are toxic. Set boundaries around e-mail after work hours. I advise clients to conduct a weekly review of their commitments. Eliminating just one recurring stressor can create space. This prevention upfront will prevent the accumulation of more total stress.
Altering is about changing things that you control. If your appointments are causing you nothing but rush hour, consider rescheduling them for a more convenient time. Negotiate reasonable counteroffers on deadlines. Improve the communication in a tense relationship. All of these require assertiveness on your part, but they also provide huge relief. The goal is to focus on what you can change rather than wishing your circumstances were different.
Adaptation Techniques
- Reframe perspectives on unavoidable stressors like traffic
- Develop flexible routines accommodating disruptions
- Practice gratitude for manageable aspects of difficult situations
Acceptance Practices
- Release resistance to unchangeable realities like weather
- Focus energy on controllable responses instead
- Use mindfulness to observe without judgment
To adapt means to use your energy to react to the situations you cannot change. Instead, create flexible routines to manage unpredictable workdays. Use a traffic jam to listen to a podcast and learn something new. During tough parenting phases, practice gratitude. The only way to build resilience is through mental flexibility of adaptation, rather than changing the situation.
Acceptance is learning to let go of resistance towards aspects of your reality that can't change. Acceptance means putting your energy towards a response to a health diagnosis you can control. Stop resisting the rainy weather when you are out after work, if someone has to choose between options that you can't change. With acceptance comes emotional freedom towards anything that is outside the locus of change.
Engage in weekly planning sessions using the 4 A's framework. Identify the impending challenges through this lens. As you do this, identify what type of stressor each one represents. Apply the appropriate coping mechanism to the stressor. This approach can be systematic and conserve energy. This guides your energy with the greatest area of stress relief.
Read the full article: 15 Stress Management Strategies That Work
