Study pinpoints most stressful time of the day to the minute
BALTIMORE - We all have things that make our stress levels spike, whether it's getting the children ready for school, rushing out the door, traffic or just our job.
But a new study has figured out the most stressful part of the day down to the minute.
It's the sound that reminds us all to get up and start our day.
But as the sun rises, the schedule starts coming alive.
"7:15, I get my daughter up," said Lisa Geier, who commutes to work from Pennsylvania. "By 8:15, we get her on the bus and then I get on the road to head down here."
And the stress may start settling in.
Researchers found after surveying 2,000 people in the United Kingdom, 7:23 in the morning is the most stressful time of day.
That timestamp may be too early for some people.
"I'm asleep, so I'm OK," said Devon Strozyk.
But for Dr. Casey Mabry, that timestamp is accurate.
"At 7:23, my 5-year-old dropped a glass and shattered it on the kitchen floor. So, I was like, yup this fits," said Dr. Mabry, from Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital.
The survey showed that some of the top stressors are moments like waking up late, spilling something on the ground or on your clothes.
But the No. 1 cause of stress was getting stuck in traffic.
Truck driver Russell Kelly knows all too well the stress of traffic as he travels to make deliveries.
"From 7 to 8:30, it's a madhouse," Kelly said. "It's very stressful out here on the highway because I run up and down the road all morning."
Anitra Jones is normally a morning person but woke up to an unfortunate flat tire.
"Didn't work out, already a stressful morning," Jones said. "And I haven't had coffee in how long but today I'm going to have it."
Dr. Mabry suggests to not overcrowd your morning schedule, but rather give yourself some extra wiggle room.
"I feel like most people probably have their mornings so tightly scheduled, in a sense of all the things you have to get done before you leave the house, that if one thing goes wrong it feels like it's thrown off the whole thing," she said.
Dr. Mabry said that as the anticipation grows, people start to think everything is an emergency.
She suggests prepping ahead of time, like making meals the night before.
But if you start to feel too overwhelmed, then think about going to a doctor.
"You may be dealing with anxiety, depression or ADHD that hasn't been diagnosed because you've been able to manage the symptoms up until there were too many stressors in your life," Dr. Mabry said. "And now things are starting to fall apart. It doesn't mean you are a weak person or a bad person, it just means you're a person."