25 Journal Prompts for Social Anxiety and Replaying Conversations

You said something on Tuesday. Nobody else remembers it. You are covering for all of them.

These prompts are for the replay, the wave at the wrong person and the goodbye where you both then walked the same way.

The prompts

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

1. You said “you too” to the waiter. How long ago, and are you over it?
2. How long do you think the other person thought about it?
3. Describe the goodbye where you both then walked the same way.
4. What did you say this week that you have replayed? How many times?
5. You laughed at the wrong moment. What was the moment?
6. How long can you hide in the toilet at a party before someone notices?
7. What do you practise in the queue before you order?
8. You waved back at someone waving at the person behind you. Describe your recovery.
9. What is your exit line when you want to leave and can’t?
10. You had to sign something while someone watched. What happened to your signature?
11. What did you apologise for today that wasn’t your fault?
12. Which old memory arrived uninvited this week?
13. How early do you arrive, and where do you wait so nobody sees?
14. What do you do when you walk into a room and everyone looks up?
15. What small talk do you have prepared? Recite it.
16. You held a door for someone slightly too far away. Describe the jog.
17. How long did you sleep after two hours of being sociable?
18. Who do you think is still thinking about that thing? (Nobody.)
19. What do you do with your arms when you stand and talk?
20. You forgot someone’s name. What did you call them instead?
21. What have you agreed to because saying no felt harder?
22. What do you rehearse before asking a shop assistant a question?
23. What do you do with your face while people sing you happy birthday?
24. What do you do when you see someone you know in the supermarket?
25. Describe eating in front of people you have just met.

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 “The Social Replay Loop” has six prompts like these with ruled space under each, plus the replay scorecard. 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.

Get the journal