Bay Area CBT Center · Worksheet
Behavioral Activation Log
When you’re depressed, the instruction “do more” is useless, because the motivation to do things is exactly what’s missing. Behavioral activation flips the order: you do the thing first, and the motivation shows up afterward, if it shows up at all. This log is how you prove that to yourself with your own data rather than taking anyone’s word for it.
How this works
- Plan the activity before you feel like it. Waiting to feel motivated is the trap — in depression the feeling arrives after the action, not before. Schedule it, then do it on schedule, at whatever mood level you’re at.
- Rate your mood right before and right after, 0 to 10. This is the part people skip and it’s the part that does the work: it catches the small lifts your memory throws away.
- Rate mastery and pleasure separately. Mastery is a sense of accomplishment — it counts even if it wasn’t enjoyable. Pleasure is enjoyment — it counts even if it achieved nothing. Depressed weeks are usually short on both, and they need different activities to fix.
- Start absurdly small. Not “go to the gym.” “Put shoes on and walk to the corner.” The size of the step should match the energy you actually have, not the energy you wish you had.
- Log the ones you skipped too. A skipped activity isn’t a failure, it’s data about what’s too big or badly timed.
What you’re looking for
Not a good week. You’re looking for the pattern in the numbers — which activities reliably lift your mood, which ones you predicted would be pointless and weren’t, and whether the low-mood days are the days with less in them. The summary under each week works that out for you.
Step 1Build your list
A menu to pull from when planning your week, so you’re not trying to think of things at your lowest. Tap to add, or write your own. Small and specific beats ambitious.
Pleasure
Things that used to feel good, even a little
Mastery
Things that give a sense of having done something
Connection
Contact with another human, however small
Movement
The body first, the mood follows
Care and routine
The scaffolding that holds a day up
Meaning
Things that connect to what you care about
My list
Nothing added yet. Tap anything above, or write your own.
Step 2Plan, do, and rate
One row per activityFill in the left side ahead of time. Fill in the right side right after — within a few minutes if you can, because the lift fades from memory fast.
Week 1
| Activity | Day | When | Did it | Mood before0–10 | Mood after0–10 | Change | Mastery0–10 | Pleasure0–10 | |
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Add a few activities above and the numbers will fill in here.
Your privacy. Everything you enter stays in your own browser. Nothing is sent to Bay Area CBT Center and nothing is stored on our servers. Your entries are saved on this device only — use Clear all to erase them. This worksheet is an educational tool and is not therapy, a diagnosis, or a substitute for care. If you’re having thoughts of harming yourself, please reach out to a professional or a crisis line rather than working through this alone.