Values, Pacing and Self-Regulation
A worksheet combining values clarification with activity pacing and self-regulation, suited to fatigue, burnout, overwhelm, and living with a long-term condition. It helps you clarify what matters across life domains, recognise the boom-bust (overactivity then crash) pattern, and build a paced activity plan based on a sustainable baseline with gradual planned increases rather than activity driven by how you feel on the day. It also helps you spot early signs of over-doing and plan rest, so that you can live your values sustainably over time.
Written by Tarun Vermani, Trainee Clinical Psychologist Last reviewed
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Values, Pacing and Self-Regulation
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What matters to you: values across life domains
When energy is limited, how you spend it matters more, not less. Clarifying your values helps you decide where your limited energy is best invested, so that pacing becomes about protecting what you care about, not just doing less. Think about the kind of person you want to be and the directions you value, even if your condition makes them harder right now.
| # | Life area (e.g. relationships, work, health, leisure, home) | What matters to me here / who I want to be | Importance now (low / medium / high) | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Recognising your boom-bust pattern
Boom-bust (also called the over-under activity cycle) is very common with fatigue and long-term conditions. On a 'good' day, you push to get lots done (boom), often to make up for lost time. This overshoots your current capacity and is followed by a flare or crash (bust), where you can do very little and may feel low or frustrated. Then a good day arrives and the cycle repeats. It is an understandable pattern, not a failing. Mapping it is the first step to smoothing it out.
Finding a sustainable baseline
A baseline is an amount of an activity you can do consistently, even on a worse day, without triggering a crash. This is the foundation of pacing. The trick is to set it lower than you think you can manage, based on what is reliably sustainable rather than what you can do on a good day. A steady, slightly-too-easy baseline beats an ambitious one that tips you into bust.
| # | Activity (e.g. walking, housework, screen work, socialising) | What I tend to do on a good day (the boom) | Sustainable baseline (time or amount I could manage even on a bad day) | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Building a paced activity plan
Now turn baselines into a plan. Two principles make pacing work: (1) activity is planned in advance and time/quota-based, so you stop when the plan says, not when symptoms force you; (2) increases are small, gradual and planned (for example, adding 10 percent or a couple of minutes only after the baseline feels reliably easy for several days), rather than jumping ahead on a good day. Breaks are scheduled before you need them, not earned by overdoing it.
| # | Activity | Starting amount (this week's planned level) | Planned breaks / how I split it up | How and when I will increase (small, planned step) | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Self-regulation: spotting over-doing and planning recovery
Self-regulation is noticing your early warning signs of overdoing it and responding before a full crash, plus giving yourself genuine permission to rest. Rest is part of the plan, not a reward you have to earn and not a sign of failure.
Pacing to live your values sustainably
The point of pacing is not to do less for its own sake. It is to spread your energy so you can keep showing up, over weeks and months, for what matters most to you. Connecting your plan back to your values helps it feel purposeful and worth the short-term frustration of holding back on good days.
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When to use ‘Values, Pacing and Self-Regulation’
‘Values, Pacing and Self-Regulation’ is an interactive cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) worksheet. As a core CBT skill it is used right across the model, with presentations including depression, anxiety, OCD, trauma and low self-esteem, rather than being tied to a single diagnosis.
It is designed to be used within therapy rather than as a standalone self-help tool: a therapist introduces it, works through it collaboratively, and helps make sense of what it surfaces. You can preview the full worksheet above, then assign it digitally for clients to complete between sessions on any device — or download it as a print-ready PDF.
How it works
Most people work through it in around 20 minutes. It moves through six short steps:
- What matters to you: values across life domains — When energy is limited, how you spend it matters more, not less. Clarifying your values helps you decide where your limited energy is best…
- Recognising your boom-bust pattern — Boom-bust (also called the over-under activity cycle) is very common with fatigue and long-term conditions. On a 'good' day, you push to…
- Finding a sustainable baseline — A baseline is an amount of an activity you can do consistently, even on a worse day, without triggering a crash. This is the foundation of…
- Building a paced activity plan — Now turn baselines into a plan. Two principles make pacing work: (1) activity is planned in advance and time/quota-based, so you stop when…
- Self-regulation: spotting over-doing and planning recovery — Self-regulation is noticing your early warning signs of overdoing it and responding before a full crash, plus giving yourself genuine…
- Pacing to live your values sustainably — The point of pacing is not to do less for its own sake. It is to spread your energy so you can keep showing up, over weeks and months, for…
Completed on the Formulate platform, your client's answers are saved automatically and shared straight back to you, so you can review them before the next session rather than waiting for a paper copy to come back.
The CBT approach behind it
In common with other CBT methods, ‘Values, Pacing and Self-Regulation’ works by re-engaging with meaningful and rewarding activity (behavioural activation). The aim is not positive thinking but a clearer, shared understanding of what keeps a difficulty going — and practical, testable ways to change it.
Because it is a CBT tool it stays focused on the here-and-now links between thoughts, feelings, the body and behaviour, and it works best as one part of a wider course of therapy rather than as advice or a diagnosis.
Evidence & sources
This worksheet is grounded in established cognitive behavioural therapy theory and practice. Key sources include:
- Hayes, S.C., Strosahl, K.D., & Wilson, K.G. (1999). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. New York: Guilford Press.
- Goudsmit, E.M., Nijs, J., Jason, L.A., & Wallman, K.E. (2012). Pacing as a strategy to improve energy management in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: A consensus document. Disability and Rehabilitation, 34(13), 1140-1147. doi:10.3109/09638288.2011.635746
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2021). Myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy)/chronic fatigue syndrome: diagnosis and management (NICE guideline NG206). London: NICE.
For use alongside professional support
Formulate provides educational CBT resources for use with a qualified therapist. They are not a substitute for professional assessment, diagnosis, or crisis care.
If you need urgent help now:
- Emergency services: 999 — if you or someone else is in immediate danger
- Samaritans: 116 123 — free, day or night, 365 days a year
- SANEline: 0800 689 5555 — 4:30pm–10:30pm, every day
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