Reaction Timeline: Map What Happened Before, During and After

Choose an episode with a beginning and an end

Pick one conversation, task interruption or message exchange rather than a whole week of reactions. Start with enough context to understand it. A changed instruction, an unfinished task or a time constraint may matter; a complete personal history is unnecessary.

Use approximate timing if that is sufficient for a personal reflection. “Before the meeting,” “when the message arrived” and “later that afternoon” can put the entries in order. A clinical, work or formal record may require different facts and timing; follow its actual requirements.

This original worksheet is an organisational aid. It does not recreate a therapeutic behaviour analysis, determine why you reacted or infer a diagnosis. If the episode is too distressing to revisit, you can stop and use suitable support instead.

Read a worked timeline with an uncertain gap

The timeline separates an interpretation from the message and separates the later correction from the first reply. It does not decide whether embarrassment caused the reply or whether checking sooner would certainly have changed it. Those are different claims.

A useful future choice might be checking the instruction before answering a file question. That is a possibility to consider in a feasible situation, not a promise that no mistake will happen again.

Keep entries descriptive and visibly incomplete where needed

Use separate labels for an event, a thought, a feeling, an urge and an action. You do not have to include every category at every position. If the only thing you recall is sending a reply, record that and leave the preceding feeling uncertain.

Write what you did in observable terms: asked, replied, closed the document, waited or left. “I overreacted” evaluates the action but does not tell you what happened. You can add an evaluation later with its reason, rather than using it as the event itself.

Body sensations may be included as optional observations, not explanations of your nervous system or another person’s behaviour. You can skip them. The experience-sorting worksheet explains the category distinction in more detail if you need it.

Find a future choice without rewriting the past

Look for a place where a feasible action could differ next time: asking for a missed instruction, checking an actual date, stating an honest limit or using appropriate help. The choice belongs in a separate future line, rather than replacing what you already did.

Sometimes there was no realistic opportunity to pause. An urgent responsibility, missing information or a constraint may have limited the options. Do not assume every reaction could have been prevented by a private exercise or that a cleaner timeline proves blame.

For a disagreement, the post-conflict review focuses on conduct, consequences and possible repair. A timeline first answers “in what order?” It does not require a second full review when the sequence alone has already clarified the useful question.

Try four timeline checks

These situations are invented to practise the distinctions on this page. They are not reports of results or a test of a person.

Close with one useful question or next step

Read the order once and select the detail that matters. In the file example, the current instruction is a practical check. Another episode might reveal a missed question or a need for outside support. You do not need a complete explanation of your character to use that information.

If you keep the record, minimise unnecessary third-party details and choose its location carefully. The journal privacy guide discusses contents and copies. A record needed for formal evidence or professional care can have different requirements.

The NHS describes thoughts, feelings and behaviour as connected, but that does not validate a causal conclusion from this timeline. Stop if review becomes distressing or repetitive. A webpage cannot assess an episode’s clinical meaning or replace appropriate support.

Use the original diagram and optional record

View or download the original diagram (SVG) · Download the editable record (TXT)

EPISODE AND PURPOSE:
BEFORE — KNOWN CONTEXT:
EVENT — WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED:
FIRST NOTICED THOUGHT / FEELING / URGE, IF RECALLED:
ACTUAL ACTION:
UNKNOWN GAP / UNCERTAIN TIMING:
LATER OBSERVED OUTCOME:
ONE QUESTION OR POSSIBLE FUTURE CHOICE:
CONDITIONS / SUPPORT NEEDED FOR THAT CHOICE:
ORDER DOES NOT PROVE CAUSE.