The Big List of Pleasurable Activities

(taken from The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook)

Check (√) the ones you’re willing to do, and then add any activities that you can think of:

___ Talk to a friend on the telephone.

___ Cook your favorite dish or meal.

___ Go out and visit a friend.

___ Cook a recipe you’ve never tried before.

___ Invite a friend to come to your home.

___ Take a cooking class.

___ Text message your friends.

___ Go out for something to eat.

___ Organize a party.

___ Go outside and play with your pet.

___ Exercise.

___ Go borrow a friend’s dog and take it to the park.

___ Lift weights.

___ Give your pet a bath.

___ Do yoga, tai chi, or Pilates, or take classes to learn.

___ Go outside and watch the birds and other animals.

___ Stretch all your muscles.

___ Find something funny to do, like reading the Sunday comics.

___ Go for a long walk in a park or someplace else that’s peaceful.

___ Watch a funny movie (start collecting funny movies to watch

___ Go outside and watch the clouds. when you’re feeling overwhelmed with pain).

___ Go jog.

___ Go to a movie theater and watch whatever playing.

___ Ride your bike.

___ Watch television.

___ Go for a swim.

___ Listen to the radio.

___ Go hiking.

___ Go to a sporting event, like a baseball or football game.

___ Do something exciting, like surfing, rock climbing, skiing,

___ Play agame with a friend

skydiving, motorcycle riding, or kayaking, or go learn how to do one of these things.

___ Play solitaire.

___ Play video games.

___ Go to your local playground and join a game being

___ Go online to chat.

played or watch a game.

___ Visit your favorite websites.

___ Go play something you can do by yourself if no one else is

___ Visit crazy websites and start keeping a list of them.

___ Create your own website.

___ Create your own online blog.

___ Get a massage; this can also help soothe your emotions.

___ Join an internet dating service.

___ Get out of your house, even if you just sit outside.

___ Sell something you don’t want on the internet.

___ Go for a drive in your car or go for a ride on public

___ Buy something on the internet.

transportation.

___ Do a puzzle with a lot of pieces.

___ Plan a trip to a place you’ve never been before.

___ Call a crisis or suicide hotline and talk to someone.

___ Sleep or take a nap.

___ Go shopping.

___ Eat chocolate (it’s good for you!) or eat something else your really like.

___ Go get a haircut.

___ Eat your favorite ice cream.

___ Go to a spa.

___ Go to a library.

___ Sign up for a class that excites you at a local college,

___ Go to a bookstore and read. adult school, or online.

___ Go to your favorite café for coffee or tea.

___Read your favorite book, magazine, paper, or poem.

___ Visit a museum or local art gallery.

___ Read a trashy celebrity magazine.

___ Go to the mall or the park and watch other

___ Write a letter to a friend or family member.

people, try to imagine what they’re thinking.

___ Write things you like about yourself on a picture of your

___ Pray or meditate. body or draw them on a photograph of yourself.

___ Go to your church, synagogue, temple or other place of worship.

___ Write a poem, story, movie, or play about your life

___ Join a group at your place of worship. or someone else’s life.

___ Write a letter to God.

___ Write in your journal or diary about what happened

___ Call a family member you haven’t spoken to to you today.

___ Write a loving letter to yourself when you’re feeling good

___ Learn a new language. And keep it with you to read when you’re feeling upset.

___ Sing or learn how to sing.

___ Make a list of ten things you’re good at or that you like

___ Play a musical instrument or learn how to play one. about yourself when you’re feeling good, and keep it

___ Write a song. with you to read when you’re feeling upset.

___ Listen to some upbeat, happy music (start collecting happy

___ Draw a picture.

___ Paint a picture with a brush or your fingers.

___ Turn on some loud music and dance in your room.

___ Masturbate.

___ Memorize lines from your favorite movie, play, or song.

___ Have sex with someone you care about.

___Make a movie or video with your camcorder.

___Make a list of the people you admire and want to be

___ Take photographs. like—it can be anyone real or fictional throughout

___ Join a public-speaking group and write a speech. history. Describe when you admire about these people.

___ Participate in a local theater group.

___ Write a story about the craziest, funniest, or sexiest

___ Sing in a local choir. thing that has ever happened to you.

___ Join a club.

___ Make a list of ten things you would like to do before

___ Plant a garden. you die.

___ Work outside.

___ Make a list of ten celebrities you would like to be friends

___Knit, crochet, or sew—or learn how to. with and describe why.

___ Make a scrapbook with pictures.

___ Make a list of ten celebrities you would like to have sex

___ Paint your nails. with and describe why.

___ Change your haircolor.

___ Write a letter to someone who has made your life better and

___ Take a bubble bath or shower. tell them why. (You don’t have to send the letter.)

___ Work on your car, truck, motorcycle, or bicycle.

___ Create your own list of pleasurable activities.