v1.3.03 loop iterations

Stress Audit

'I'm stressed' is the starting point, not the diagnosis. The Stress Audit decomposes vague overwhelm into a specific list of stressors, classifies each by impact and control, and orders the interventions so you stop spending energy on things you can't change. Not a therapist.

What this skill does

Scope first — this is not therapy and not a clinician. It is a structured self-audit. It does not treat anxiety disorders, depression, PTSD, or any mental health condition. Persistent low mood lasting 2+ weeks, inability to function at baseline, escalating substance use, hopelessness, or thoughts of self-harm mean stop the audit and get professional support — a GP, a therapist, or a crisis line. The skill flags these signals explicitly in the output, with crisis resources, rather than carrying on as if they were normal stressors.

Within scope, the skill does the move that makes stress manageable: it stops being one cloud and becomes a list. "I'm stressed" is the symptom; the inventory finds the components. Work load, role ambiguity, financial pressure, relationship tension, caregiving, sleep deficit, identity drift, environmental clutter, digital overwhelm — each one named, scored 1-10 for intensity, marked for frequency. The act of listing is the first intervention. Most people discover the load is six specific things, not one giant thing, and six specific things have six specific responses.

The Impact-Control Matrix is where the audit earns its keep. Each stressor lands in one of four quadrants. Strategic (high impact, high control) gets the focused work — biggest ROI. Quick wins (low impact, high control) get done this week for momentum. Adapt (high impact, low control) gets a coping strategy because the situation can't be changed — only the response can. Let Go (low impact, low control) gets permission to stop investing. Most people are stuck because they're spending their finite energy on the bottom-left quadrant — things that don't matter and they can't change anyway.

Root causes get one level deeper than the surface stressor. "Work is stressful" becomes "I have no control over priorities, my manager keeps shifting them" — which points to a specific intervention (a scope conversation) instead of a generic one (do less work). Common root causes the skill names: loss of control, volume overwhelm, avoidance debt, boundary failure, values conflict, uncertainty. Each has a different fix.

The output ends with a weekly stress budget — daily non-negotiables (sleep anchor, 20-minute movement, decompression), two or three weekly commitments, specific boundary rules. Small actions beat big plans. One boundary set today beats a perfect programme starting next month.

When this triggers

·You feel overwhelmed but can't articulate what specifically is causing it
·You've tried 'managing stress' generally and need a triage instead
·You're stuck in the 'address everything at once' trap and burning out faster
·You want to know which stressors are within your control and which aren't
·You need permission to drop the things that don't actually need doing

Example

Trigger

User: 'Everything feels too much. Work, the move, mum's health, money's tight, haven't slept properly in weeks. I don't know where to start.'

Output

For informational purposes only. Not therapy or medical advice. Persistent hopelessness, inability to function, or thoughts of self-harm warrant urgent professional support — Samaritans (UK) 116 123 or your local crisis service. STRESS INVENTORY (intensity 1-10) Work — workload + role ambiguity: 8 Mum's health — caregiving + uncertainty: 9 House move — logistics + finance: 7 Money — outflow > inflow: 7 Sleep deficit — symptom AND cause: 8 IMPACT-CONTROL MATRIX STRATEGIC (high impact, high control) · Work scope conversation with manager · Sleep anchor — fixed wake time this week QUICK WINS (low impact, high control) · Cancel one optional commitment this week · Set up direct debit for the bills you keep forgetting ADAPT (high impact, low control) · Mum's health — control is limited. Strategy: weekly call, one practical action per week, accept the rest. Talk to GP about caregiver support. LET GO · Friend's wedding planning group chat. Mute. Permission granted. THIS WEEK (just three things) 1. Fixed 23:00 bedtime, fixed 07:00 wake — sleep is load-bearing 2. 20-min walk daily, no phone — recovery, not productivity 3. One boundary: no work email after 19:00 30-day review booked.

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What you get

214-line SKILL.md, ready to drop into ~/.claude/skills/
Tested through 3 Karpathy-loop iterations (versions v1.0.0 → v1.3.0)
Triggers automatically when relevant — no command to remember
Lifetime updates as the skill is refined further