Make sense of what you’re feeling, notice what keeps you stuck, and move toward the life you want. Each exercise is built on ideas psychology has tested for decades.
Pick whatever sounds closest. Every tool can be used on its own, and none of them need an account.
Each row is one exercise. Use whichever format suits you.
| Tool | In your browser | Printable | iPhone and iPad | Android |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thought Recordmythoughtrecord.com | Open | Coming soon | Google Play | |
| Behavioral Experimentbehavioralexperiment.com | Open | App Store | Google Play | |
| Activity Recordmyactivityrecord.com | Open | App Store | Google Play | |
| Values Card Sortmyvaluescardsort.com | Open | App Store | Google Play |
What you write stays on your device, or in your own iCloud or Google Drive if you turn on sync.
One full record from mythoughtrecord.com, all nine steps.
Ratings here run from 0 to 100. Feelings are rated for how strong they are, and thoughts for how much you believe them. Step 8 rates them again once the record is done, so you can see what shifted.
Tuesday, about 2 p.m., at my desk. I asked in the group chat if anyone wanted dinner Friday. An hour later nobody had answered, and it showed that two people had read it.
Lonely 75Embarrassed 55Anxious 40
In my body: Hot face, heavy stomach.
Nobody really wants me around.
How much I believed it 80
Thinking styles: mind reading, overgeneralizing
Nobody has answered yet, and that stings. It’s also a workday afternoon, Priya usually answers fast, and Sam invited me to his birthday two weeks ago. A slow reply is more likely about their afternoon than about me.
How much I believe it 70
| At the time | Now | |
|---|---|---|
| Lonely | 75 | 45 |
| Embarrassed | 55 | 30 |
| Anxious | 40 | 20 |
| Believing the hot thought | 80 | 35 |
When I’m lonely I read silence as rejection. Writing down what I actually knew took some of the sting out.
Next: Wait until the evening. If there’s still nothing, text Priya on her own.
The seven steps of the online worksheet at behavioralexperiment.com, filled in with the worksheet’s own examples and sample ratings.
Ratings run from 0 to 100. The belief is rated for how much you believe it, and the prediction for how likely it feels. Both are rated again once you know what happened.
Write it as a prediction
If I speak without rehearsing, people will get bored and stop talking to me.
How much do you believe it right now?
80A more balanced alternative
I will feel nervous and it will show a little, but people will keep talking to me.
What will you do, where, and with whom?
Ask a question in Tuesday’s team meeting without preparing it first.
When?
Tuesday at 10, the weekly meeting
What is the worst you think will happen?
If I ask without preparing, I will stumble over my words and two or more people will look at each other or smirk.
How would you know it came true?
Someone laughs or comments on it, or people avoid me afterward.
How likely does it feel right now?
70You will leave out
Rehearsing what to sayOver-preparingSpeaking quietly or briefly
Where will your attention go?
Keep my head up and watch how people respond, instead of listening to my own voice.
What could get in the way?
I might not get a chance to speak. If so, I will put my question in the chat instead.
Drop the safety behaviors, keep your attention outward, and stay until the prediction has actually been tested.
What actually happened?
I asked my question. Two people answered it. Nobody laughed or looked at each other. The meeting moved on.
Did the prediction come true?
No, it did not happen
| Before | After | |
|---|---|---|
| How likely the prediction feels | 70 | 15 |
| How much I believe it | 80 | 45 |
What does this tell you more generally?
People seem to respond to what I say, not to how nervous I sound. The feeling of being judged is coming from me, not from the room.
A line to keep
I spoke without preparing and people answered normally.
What is the next step?
Repeat it with more people in the room. If it still goes fine, ask two questions instead of one.
An example week in the Activity Record, with one day up close.
Each hour gets a few words about what you were doing and one rating from 0 to 100 for the feeling you chose to follow, here anxious. The intensity map shows the ratings at a glance, darker for stronger, first across the last seven days and then for one day up close. This view shows 6 AM to 11 PM.
Intensity map · Last 7 days
AnxiousLower HigherNo rating
What stands out
Friday, up close
Woke up early, could not get back to sleep
Kept running through the day ahead.
Breakfast, checked email
Focused work
Team stand-up
Lunch outside
Sat in the sun for twenty minutes. Helped.
Back-to-back meetings
Four in a row, no gap to eat.
Errands
Made dinner
Watched a show
Lay awake thinking about tomorrow
Same loop as this morning.
A sample sort, laid out like the last step of the online sort at myvaluescardsort.com, with answers to its five prompts.
The 83 cards go into three piles. The very important pile is narrowed to ten, then to a ranked top five. The last step asks you to write about each of the five, with five prompts to consider. You answer whichever ones you like.
Sorted into three piles
Then narrowed
Top five values, ranked
to have a happy, loving family
Why is this value important to you?
My kids are only little once. Dinner is the one hour we are all at the table.
What is one small, doable action this week that would move you toward it?
Phone stays in the other room at dinner.
to act in a manner that is true to who I am
Where does your life pull against it?
Meetings. I agree to keep things smooth and regret it on the drive home.
to have new and original ideas
How are you living it right now?
Not much. I haven’t drawn anything since spring.
What would living it more fully look like?
Twenty minutes with a sketchbook on Sunday mornings.
to have important accomplishments
What would living it more fully look like?
Finishing the certification before January, one module a week.
to take care of others
How are you living it right now?
I call my mom every Sunday. This one I’m living.
Also important
HonestyHealthHumorLearningFriendship
Give a client the same worksheet in whatever form suits them. Each tool has a page for clinicians with printable versions, notes on using it between sessions, and the research behind it. Nothing a client writes is sent to you or to us.
Using the tools in your practice, and permission to share them
Everyday Insight is a small California company working to put well-studied exercises from psychology within reach of more people. We make free versions of tools therapists rely on, like the thought record, the behavioral experiment, and the values card sort, and explain each one plainly enough to use on your own or alongside a professional. Every tool is free in every format, with no ads and no account.