Intensity of Sustainability Scores
Your Intensity Score tells you how many renewal activities you do in a week minus the number of stressful events or activities. More renewal than stress will indicate greater sense of well-being, less anxiety and depressing thoughts, less damages from chronic stress, and more energy. Your percentile is:
| PSI: Intensity Score | Percentile | PSI: Intensity Score | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| -27 or less | 5% | 15-18 | 55% |
| -26 to -16 | 10% | 19-22 | 60% |
| -15 to -10 | 15% | 23-26 | 65% |
| -9 to -6 | 20% | 27-31 | 70% |
| -5 to -1 | 25% | 32-27 | 75% |
| 0 to 2 | 30% | 38-43 | 80% |
| 3-5 | 35% | 44-52 | 85% |
| 6-8 | 40% | 53-66 | 90% |
| 9-11 | 45% | 67+ | 95% |
| 12-14 | 50% | — | — |
| (These percentile norms are based on a sample of professionals and managers from various English speaking countries. The overall statistics are: mean = 22; median = 14; standard deviation = 45; skew = 1.3; kurtosis = 13.9; range = -424 to 334). | |||
Variety of Sustainability Scores
Your Variety Score tells you how many different types of renewal activities you do in a week minus the number of different stressful activities you experience. The more variety of renewal activities, the better. It allows a person a wider menu from which to choose which renewal activity will work best in a given moment or day, and variety which helps alleviate boredom. Even doing something you love and enjoy can become stressful if done too often or so repetitively that it becomes routine. Your percentile is:
| PSI: Variety Score | Percentile | PSI: Variety Score | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| -5 or less | 5% | 1 | 55% |
| -4 | 10% | 1 | 60% |
| -3 | 15% | 2 | 65% |
| -3 | 20% | 2 | 70% |
| -2 | 25% | 3 | 75% |
| -2 | 30% | 3 | 80% |
| -2 to -1 | 35% | 4 | 85% |
| -1 | 40% | 5 | 90% |
| 0 | 45% | 6+ | 95% |
| 0 | 50% | — | — |
| (These percentile norms are based on a sample of professionals and managers from various English speaking countries. The overall statistics are: mean = .35; median = 0; standard deviation = 4; skew = .30; kurtosis = .09; range = -11 to 13). | |||
How Can You Improve Your Personal Sustainability?
Upping your personal sustainability, energy and enjoyment in life can means
increasing the ratio of renewal to stress in your life. You can either
increase the amount of renewal times for what you already do, or up the
variety of your renewal activities. The dosage is most important.
You may be able to lower your stress level by making some changes in your
life. For example, you might be surprised to hear that activities we assume
help us can sometimes become a source of stress. Take for instance, our cultural habits of
social media. People addicted to texting, Facebook, Twitter, etc. put themselves in a
state of alert for the next event or message. This alert state activates a
neural network that helps us focus (good) but co-activates the SNS (not so
good). That’s why constant use of social media can be a source of stress
instead of helping us feel socially connected. You might survey your habits
to see what you could change to lower your stress level.
The easier route to greater sustainability is upping the amount of renewal
activities you enjoy. The more such renewals, and the greater the variety,
the better. So having four 15 minute periods of renewal during a day is
more beneficial to you than spending one intense hour in a renewal
activity. If the four 15 minute periods are made up of two or three different
activities, all the better.
Some renewal activities, like learning to meditate or do yoga, are more
easily added by taking a class. Once you get into the swing of such renewal
routines the class is less crucial; you can just continue on your own. Many
such classes are available online—or, if it’s safe, at health clubs or
community centers. And if you’re able, check out what’s offered at your own
organization’s wellness program.
Boosting renewal can sometimes be as easy as “Just do it.” Spending more
time with your children, spouse or partner having fun can be as simple as
putting it into your weekly calendar. But what you do together
needs to be fun for everyone; the best sign: you’re all laughing at some
point.
Start with renewal activities that are engaging and enjoyable to you.
Choose activities that you can easily insert into your schedule, rather than squeezing more
obligations into your daily to-do list than you can handle. That just creates more stress.
You may find it helpful to not only identify specific renewal activities you
want to do more of each week, but also to try some that you haven’t before.
To avoid creating additional stress from too many activities, introduce your
“new” activities slowly. Try each activity for long enough to be sure
you enjoy it — that is, that you truly feel some mental, emotional or physical
rejuvenation during or afterwards.
(Personal Sustainability Index developed by Richard Boyatzis and Daniel Goleman.)
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