25 Journal Prompts for Dread, Avoidance and Putting Things Off

The event takes an hour. The dread takes four days.

These prompts are for the run-up: the over-packing, the rebooked appointment and the task you have been about to do for a month.

The prompts

Pick one. One prompt answered honestly beats twenty-five answered at speed.

1. The thing is Thursday. It’s Monday. How many days of dread have you booked?
2. What have you already apologised for that hasn’t happened yet?
3. What did you dread for days that took nine minutes and was fine?
4. Describe your Sunday evening from 4pm onwards.
5. What is in your bag “just in case”?
6. How many reminders did you set for the thing you were never going to forget?
7. What have you been “about to do” for a month?
8. Which appointment have you rebooked twice?
9. What do you clean when you are avoiding something?
10. What did you cancel and feel relief, then guilt, then both?
11. How early do you leave for something ten minutes away?
12. What is on your list purely so you can cross it off?
13. What job did avoiding it make three times bigger?
14. Write the worst case. Then the most boring case. Which is more likely?
15. What have you planned an exit from before you arrived?
16. Which form have you opened, looked at and closed?
17. What do you check twice before leaving the house? Three times?
18. What route do you take to avoid one particular thing?
19. What trip did you nearly not take? How was it?
20. Dentist, blood test or phone call: which would you postpone first?
21. What are you waiting to feel ready for?
22. What have you over-prepared for? What did you actually need?
23. What is the smallest task you have built up into a mountain?
24. What will you be doing an hour after the thing is over?
25. Which “what if” is currently in charge?

Want somewhere to write the answers?

These come from the same place as Anxiety, My Old Friend: A Journal for Things That Haven’t Happened. Its section “It’s Monday. The Thing Is Thursday.” has six prompts like these with ruled space under each, plus the dread calendar. The whole journal is a 58-page printable PDF with 60 prompts and ten activity pages.

These prompts are for writing things down and occasionally laughing at them. They are not treatment or medical advice. If anxiety is making daily life hard, please talk to your doctor or a qualified professional.

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