How it works
Behavioral activation, step by step, the way the planner and the app do it. Only the plans themselves are needed. Everything else is there if it helps.
Write what matters to you
Optional. A few words for any area you like. It helps when choosing activities, and you can skip any area, or all of them. Think about what you’d want this part of your life to be about, not a goal to finish.
The five areas come from a brief form of behavioral activation that many therapists use. Here is one example of what someone might write in each.
- Relationships. Being someone my kids can count on, and staying close to my sister.
- Work, school, and volunteering. Doing work I’m proud of, even when it’s small.
- Fun and interests. Making music again, and spending time outdoors.
- Body, mind, and spirit. Taking care of my body, and having quiet time to think.
- Everyday responsibilities. Keeping my home in a state I can relax in.
If you need words for it, the planner lists the 83 values from Miller and colleagues’ Personal Values Card Sort. For a full values exercise, try Values Card Sort.
Choose activities
Your list builds as you plan, and you can add from 40 activity ideas grouped by area of life, from very small to bigger. Each activity can say what it’s for. Many people aim for a mix across the week.
- Enjoyment. Something you might like or find interesting.
- Accomplishment. Getting something done, even if it isn’t fun.
- Connection. Time or contact with other people.
- Routine. Regular parts of the day, like meals, a shower, or a set bedtime.
- Self-care. Looking after your body and health.
- Meaning. Something that fits what matters to you.
- Facing something I’ve been avoiding. Approaching something you’ve been putting off or staying away from.
Each can also say how hard it feels. The list puts easier ones first, since starting there and working up is part of the method.
- Easier. You could probably do it even on a bad day.
- In between. Doable on an ordinary day, with a little push.
- Harder. Takes real effort, or it’s something you’ve been avoiding.
And each can have a smallest version. If the full thing feels like too much, what’s the smallest useful version? Optional, and handy on harder days.
Put them on specific days
Pick the day, then how to time it. Some people do better with an exact time. Others find that missing a set time makes the whole plan feel ruined, so a part of the day works better.
- At a set time. Pick the exact time.
- Sometime in the morning, afternoon, or evening. Good when an exact time would feel like a deadline.
- After something I already do. Tying a plan to something you already do makes it easier to remember.
- Anytime that day. For days when you’d rather not tie it to a time.
A plan can repeat on other days of the week. In the app, each plan shows exactly when its reminders will come, and Ask how it went arrives in one evening check-in with anything you haven’t answered.
In the first week, one to three small plans a day is plenty, and some days can have none. After that, keep what worked and add one more each week if you’re able. More isn’t always better. A week with room to breathe is easier to keep.
Record how it went
Afterward, answer “Did you do it?” with one of four answers. The smaller version is a real result, not a lesser one.
- Yes
- I did the smaller version
- Partly
- Not this time
If it happened, rate how much you enjoyed it and how much you felt you accomplished, given how hard it was, from 0 to 100. Both are optional, and the sliders start empty. Rate enjoyment and accomplishment separately. A hard phone call might be low for enjoyment and high for accomplishment. Accomplishment is as you felt it, given how hard things were at the time, so on a rough day something small can rate high. Neither has to be high for it to have been worth doing.
If it didn’t happen, pick anything that got in the way: forgot, too tired, didn’t feel like it, felt anxious, it felt too big or unclear, stuck in my head, the timing didn’t work, needed something I didn’t have, something else came up, other people, health, and it didn’t fit after all. The next steps that fit what you picked come first.
- Make it smaller. Plan the smallest version instead.
- Pick a clearer first step. Plan just the first physical step.
- Change the time. Plan it again for a time that fits better.
- Get something ready ahead. Set out what you’ll need, then plan it again.
- Ask someone to join. Doing it with someone can make starting easier.
- Try a different activity. Something else that serves the same purpose.
- Let it go. If it no longer fits what matters to you right now.
Plans from earlier days that never got an answer don’t pile up on today. Looking back at the week gathers them, so you can answer them or leave them.
Look back at the week
Once a week, see what got done, what got in the way most often, what the activities were for, and anything moved more than once. Nothing is scored, and no week is called good or bad. You can add a line about the week and plan the next one from there.
In the app, Patterns sets the weeks side by side. It shows what happened, not what caused what.
Notice when you’re avoiding something
Use this when you catch yourself putting something off, staying away from something, or doing something to get away from a feeling. Avoiding usually brings quick relief and a cost later. Walking through what happened makes the pattern easier to see, so next time you can choose something that moves you toward what matters.
- What happened? Where you were and what was going on, or what you were putting off.
- How did you feel? Feelings, and anything you noticed in your body. A word or two is enough.
- What did you do, and what did it do for you? What you did instead. What it did for you right then, and how things went afterward.
- What could you try instead? Something small and specific that moves toward what you were avoiding, not away from it. You can plan it next.
Four short questions, a few minutes. Optional, and you can come back to it as often as you like. If what you’re avoiding brings strong fear or panic, or is tied to something traumatic, work on it with a therapist rather than on your own.
The four questions are a page in the app and a printable worksheet. Avoidance, and what to try instead explains the idea.
Keep it going
Your plan for staying on track, and restarting after a hard stretch. After a few weeks, the app offers a plan in your own words: the early signs that you’re pulling back, the routines that keep you steady, the activities that helped most, and how you’ll restart after a hard stretch.
Each step has a short read in Learn, and the activity planner is ready when you are.