A 15-minute weekly check-in with yourself
A bad stretch is easy to miss when you're busy keeping everyone else going. This is a fifteen-minute check-in, once a week, with the same five questions, so you notice a slide early and know what to do about it.
- Time
- 15 min
- Cost
- $0
- Ages
- Any age
- Where
- Anywhere quiet
In crisis or thinking about suicide? Call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. If someone is in danger right now, call 911.
What you need
- This card or a notes app
- Pen
- A recurring weekly reminder on your phone
Read this first
- If you're thinking about hurting yourself or anyone else, call or text 988 now, or chat at 988lifeline.org. It's free, confidential and open 24/7. In an emergency, call 911.
- This is not a diagnosis. It is a way to notice patterns. A professional is the one to tell you what is going on.
- Never skip the last step. If the answers are bad, the plan is to tell someone, not to push through alone.
Steps
- Set the time and place. Same time each week, quiet spot, repeating phone reminder.
- Answer five questions. Answer yes or no for the past week: sleep, mood, drinking, temper, focus.
- Compare with last week. Compare with last week. Circle any yes that keeps coming back.
- Read the result. All no: carry on. A new yes: one small change. A yes that keeps coming back: next step.
- Act on a bad week. Tell one person today. Then book a doctor or counselor visit.
- Write one line and close it. Write down your answers and one sentence. Keep it for next week.
If it stalls
- If you don't trust your own scoring, ask your partner or a friend how you've seemed lately. People close to you often notice first.
- If you skip a week, just do it the next week. Don't make up for it by overthinking.
Weeks in a row you checked in
Signed off: can do this.Signed by Date