This three-page worksheet looks at habitual routines and what happens when we run on autopilot. It suggests that routines help us get things done efficiently, but that automatic responses can become counterproductive under stress and anxiety, when we may react from past conditioning without realizing we can choose a different response. It also suggests that mindfulness can help us notice what we are doing and why, and that looking at things with a beginner’s mind, as if seeing them for the first time, may reveal other possibilities.
It opens with a brief awareness prompt, asking you to notice why you chose this topic, how your belly, chest, and head each feel when you reflect on it, and when you could apply more mindfulness to it in daily life.
What the worksheet asks you to look at
- Your habitual patterns when you’re anxious or stressed, such as biting your nails, eating more or less, or saying things you wish you hadn’t.
- Whether you repeat certain actions to get temporary relief from obsessive thoughts.
- Habits that may be adding to your stress, such as staying up late, doing everything for everybody, or eating fast food to save time.
- The mix of helpful and unhelpful habits most of us have, such as healthy eating and regular exercise on one side, and too little rest or overworking on the other.
- A one-week experiment: make a conscious effort to be mindful of your habits, healthy and unhealthy, and notice whether you make any different choices.
- A closing question: how will you take what you learned forward into your life?
