This CBT Daily Activity Diary is designed to help clients identify activities associated with experiences of pleasure and mastery.
Offers theory, guidance, and prompts for mental health professionals. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.
Includes client-friendly guidance. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.
An editable Microsoft PowerPoint version of the resource.
Activity diaries can be used for activity monitoring during an assessment phase of therapy, symptom monitoring during therapy, correlating activity with symptoms, or activity scheduling as part of behavioral activation. This well-known activity diary is often used in work with depressed clients, and includes space for enjoyment and mastery ratings. It can be used for assessing key moments in the week where the client felt enjoyment during an activity, or felt mastery (a sense of accomplishment while participating in the activity). Once key activities have been identified which lead to feelings of enjoyment and mastery, more similar activities can be scheduled for subsequent weeks to build a sense of self-efficacy and self-esteem.
Activity diaries are used for various purposes in CBT, including assessment and intervention.
For scheduling activities that can alleviate depressive symptoms.
To identify behaviors that contribute to anxiety.
To establish links between activities/routines and poor sleep.
Use the diary to log daily activities in the 1 hour time slots.
Review diaries to identify patterns and explore links between activities and problem symptoms.
Schedule desired activities in advance.
Activity monitoring and scheduling are well-known interventions in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), especially in treatments for depression. This approach is based on the observation that low mood often leads to reduced activity, which in turn reinforces feelings of hopelessness, low self-worth, and disconnection. A daily activity diary is a simple yet effective tool for helping clients track how their actions influence their mood.
This particular diary includes space to rate activities in terms of enjoyment (how pleasurable the activity was) and mastery (the sense of achievement or competence felt while doing the activity). These ratings help to identify patterns over time, such as moments when the client experienced positive emotion or a sense of accomplishment, even if fleeting.
By identifying these meaningful activities, therapists and clients can begin to intentionally schedule more of them in future weeks. The aim is to increase opportunities for positive reinforcement, rebuild a sense of agency, and promote improvements in mood. Over time, this process helps to break the cycle of inactivity and low mood that characterises depression.
