Usage and Urge Tracking Diary: A Free Behavioural Urge Monitoring Worksheet
Behavioural Addiction · Practice-informed · Practice-informed
A paper diary for noticing urges and use before any attempt to change them. Each line records when it happened, what came just before, urge strength from 0 to 10, what the client did, time spent and how they felt afterwards, with an end of week reflection on patterns and on one small thing that helped. It works for AI companion use and for other behavioural urges. The Urge Surf and Diary micro-tool is its digital companion, with a timer, an optional breath guide and a printable pattern summary.
Underlying mechanism: Self-Monitoring of Behavioural Urges and Use
What it helps with
- Showing the pattern, including times of day, places and feelings that keep coming up, before any target is set.
- Giving clinician and client real data to look at together in the next session.
- Framing the first weeks as gathering information rather than testing willpower.
- Noticing small things that help, which are easy to miss when attention is on the problem.
How clinicians use it
- Hand it over at the end of the first session as observation only.
- Review it at the start of each later session and look for repeated triggers.
- Offer the Urge Surf and Diary micro-tool where the client would rather use a phone or computer.
Clinical Implementation Guide
- Explain that the first fortnight is for noticing and not for changing.
- Add a line whenever an urge or use happens, and the two reflection questions at the end of the week.
- Review the pattern together at the next session.
What the worksheet looks like
| Date and time | Just before | Urge (0 to 10) | What I did | After |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 22:40 | Home alone and flatmates out | 8 | Surfed the urge for ten minutes, then texted my sister | Calmer and a little proud |
| Wed 13:05 | After a tense seminar | 6 | Walked round the block | Less tense |
Clinical cautions
Self-monitoring can raise self-criticism in some clients, so pair it with compassion-focused work and describe it as gathering information. The diary is a descriptive record and not an assessment of severity. This tool does not diagnose any condition and is not a substitute for individual face-to-face therapy or for emergency crisis support.
References
- Bowen, S., & Marlatt, A. (2009). Surfing the urge: Brief mindfulness-based intervention for college student smokers. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 23(4), 666-671. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017127
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