25 Journal Prompts for Texting Anxiety and Unanswered Messages

A message that says Read and nothing else can fill an entire afternoon.

These prompts are for the three dots, the drafts folder and the phone call you have been about to make since Tuesday.

The prompts

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

1. Someone typed, then stopped. What three messages did they delete?
2. “I want to talk to you.” What did you assume it was about?
3. How long has that email been sitting in drafts?
4. What did you draft four times before sending “Sounds good!”?
5. Translate “per my last email” into what was actually meant.
6. Rank by dread: an unknown number, “can we talk?”, a voicemail.
7. The message says Read. What crime have you decided you committed?
8. How many unanswered texts are you avoiding right now?
9. What did you rehearse before a phone call that lasted forty seconds?
10. What do you pretend to look at on your phone?
11. How many messages did you send before they replied to the first?
12. A full stop at the end of “OK.” What does it mean?
13. Describe your own face on a video call.
14. What is the longest you have left a voicemail unlistened?
15. Which notification sound makes your stomach drop?
16. “Call me when you can.” What did you imagine in the next ten minutes?
17. What did you reread after sending? How many times?
18. Your manager wrote “quick chat?” How quick was your pulse?
19. What do you do when the phone rings and you know who it is?
20. How long do you wait before replying so you don’t seem too keen?
21. What have you typed, deleted and replaced with a thumbs up?
22. You accidentally liked an old photo. Describe the next minute.
23. What is your excuse for not answering the door?
24. How many times did you check they got your message? (They did.)
25. Which group chat are you muted in but still reading?

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 “Sent. Delivered. Read. Nothing.” has six prompts like these with ruled space under each, plus the read-receipt timeline. 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