The thought-spiral worksheet
A one-page tool for the middle of a spiral. Not for later, when you're calm. For now, while it's running.
Keep this somewhere you can reach fast. Print it, or save it to your phone. When a spiral starts, work the five steps in order. You don't have to do them well. You just have to do them.
Where am I in the loop?
Circle one. My body is activated. My brain has handed me a reason. I'm reacting to the reason, by checking, replaying, or planning. Naming it is the work here. You don't have to fix anything yet.
What's the thought?
Write it in one plain sentence.
Now mark it. Is it a fact, something you can prove right now, or a prediction, something your mind is filling in? Circle one. Fact. Prediction. Most spiral thoughts are predictions wearing the clothes of facts.
The 10-second gap
Say to yourself, this is one of those moments. Pause for ten seconds. Don't fix anything. Then take three breaths, each with the exhale longer than the inhale.
Let the urge stay
The urge to check, reread, or solve is allowed to be there. You're not removing it. You're practicing letting it sit without acting on it right now.
One small next action
Not the thing the loop wants. The next reasonable thing in your actual day. Write it here, then go do it.
You didn't end the spiral by force. You stopped feeding it, and you kept moving. That's the whole skill, and it gets easier each time you use it.
The loop this worksheet works on has a name. I've mapped it in the rumination loop, and how the shrinQ system works walks through the four moves behind these five steps. When you want the full structure, the shrinQ program is where I teach it.
Get a printable copy of this worksheet.
This worksheet is one tool from shrinQ, the paid program. The program is the full system: how the loop works, the eight-step shrinkMD Reset, and a practice that makes catching a spiral early your default. Enter your email to get the printable worksheet plus a short series that introduces the program.
We'll only use your email for this. No spam.
Common questions
A thought spiral is a loop where your body is activated, your brain hands you a reason, and you react to the reason by checking, replaying, or planning, which feeds the loop again. Most spiral thoughts are predictions wearing the clothes of facts, which is part of what keeps them running.
Work the steps while it is running, not later when you are calm: name where you are in the loop, write the thought in one sentence and mark it as a fact or a prediction, take a ten-second gap with a few longer exhales, let the urge to check or solve sit without acting on it, and do one small next action in your actual day.
The urge to check, reread, or solve feels like it will bring relief, so acting on it keeps the loop alive. You do not end a spiral by force. You stop feeding it and keep moving, and catching it earlier gets easier each time you practice.