It’s Time To Check In With Yourself: 23 Questions To Uncover Your Emotional Well-Being

While your emotional health is important, you might put it on the back burner as you focus on your life responsibilities and other distractions.

However, an essential part of mindfulness is paying attention to your emotions and how they impact you.

You don’t need to go to therapy sessions or meet with a doctor to check your emotional health and well-being. 

By mindfully engaging in self-reflection and questioning, you’ll better read your emotional status and what you need to do to improve it.

We’ll look at the 23 top self-check-in questions you can ask yourself any day of the week.

How Do You Do an Emotional Check-Up?

Your emotional well-being reveals how well you handle stress and disruptions in your life.

Some simple ways to check in on yourself include some simple activities you can do at home. We found some great and easy ways to explore your emotions.

• Watch a movie: Thanks to Netflix and other streaming services, it’s easy to relax with a new film or a treasured favorite. As you watch that film, think about your emotions and how you feel.

• Keep a journal: A journal is an easy way to process your emotions and see how different events or situations impact you. Pay attention to how you felt during and after the event.

• Color: Adult coloring books are perfect for emotional exploration. Simply looking at how you color and the colors you choose can tell you a lot.

• Read a book: Though you might feel like you don’t have much free time, make time to sit down and read. Reading can help you relax and focus your mind, which can help you see how you’re doing emotionally.

• Track your emotions: Pick an emotion and see how often you feel it during the day. You might focus on being happy one day and angry the next day. Write down your daily emotions and look for patterns and triggers.

Check-In with Yourself with These 23 Questions

Learning how to check in with yourself is an excellent way to get in touch with your emotions.

You’ll also discover the changes you need to make to improve your emotional well-being.

When you reflect on your emotions, you can think about how you felt in the past and recognize the changes you experienced. Here are 23 probing self-check-in questions you can ask yourself.

1. Have you felt irritable or anxious recently?

The way you answer this question helps you identify the triggers in your life. Triggers can include people, situations, and activities that negatively affect your emotional health.

2. What was the dominant emotion you felt today?

When you get home at the end of the day, sit down and think about the last 8-12 hours. If you felt angry most of the day or upset, it lets you know that there’s a wound or more profound emotion behind the anger. 

3. What do you like or appreciate about yourself?

You don’t need to be perfect to like and appreciate yourself. Try to find something you love about yourself, such as your beautiful smile or good driving skills.

When you focus on the positive things, you can see yourself with a more balanced perspective.

4. Are you happy with your job?

This question applies to those who work from home and outside of the home. Though you may not want to admit it to yourself, now might be the time to change career paths.

No one should work for an employer who doesn’t appreciate them or in a job that is going nowhere.

5. When do you feel the calmest and most relaxed?

Feeling calm and relaxed can help both your emotional and mental health. Think about the moments during the day when you felt your best. This reflection gives you an idea of ways to decrease your stress and feel more relaxed.

6. Do you suffer from a poor or low mood that lasts a long time?

Mood swings are common among many people, but you may get into a funk that you can’t escape. If you have a negative or depressed mood and can’t remember the last time you felt happy, it’s time to talk to a doctor or counselor.

7. Are you holding onto thoughts you should let go of?

Repetitive thoughts can wreak havoc on your life. You might ruminate about a disagreement you had at work or an argument with a friend. No matter why you keep holding onto those feelings now is the time to let go of them.

8. Do you have someone you trust?

Every person in the world needs at least one person they can trust and turn to when times are bad.

If you looked at this question and had difficulty thinking of someone you trust, you may want to join a support group or look for ways to make new friends.

9. How do you feel about your support circle?

Though similar to the last question, this one concerns your support system, which is the group of people around you.

Your support system can include family, close friends, people you talk to online, and coworkers. Give some thought to how you feel about them and if you can turn to them when you need help.

10. What was the best thing that happened this week?

When the end of the week arrives, think back to the last seven days and name the best thing that happened to you.

You might think about the deal you got on a new outfit or how you felt when your boss commended you for a job well done. Focusing on positive events and gratitude can improve your mood.

11. What was the worst thing that happened this week?

While you don’t want to focus entirely on the bad things, it’s valuable to reflect on the worst thing that happened to you in the last week.

Why was this event so bad, and what could you do differently next time? How can you learn from this event?

12. Do you have plans for the future?

You don’t need to think about long-term plans like when you’ll marry your partner or get a promotion at work. Simple strategies can include taking a vacation next month or meeting your friends for dinner.

These plans give you something to look forward to in the coming weeks and can improve your outlook.

13. Are you isolating yourself because you want to be alone?

One of the most significant signs of depression is isolating yourself from your loved ones.

If you have people who care about you but don’t want to be around them, it’s time to address the underlying reason. Depression is often the culprit.

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14. What things make you angry?

Answering this question is an excellent way to identify the situations and actions that trigger you. You may want to look for ways to avoid people and situations that cause you to feel this way.

But an even healthier response is looking for the underlying cause of the anger and why you get triggered.

15. What color best describes your mood?

The color that describes your mood can suggest you need to improve your emotional well-being. Red is often associated with feeling powerful and confident, while blue is a color of stability and safety. 

16. What makes you hopeful?

If there isn’t anything in your life that makes you hopeful, you may be depressed or experiencing a lack of clarity about your future.

However, if you have something to look forward to or plan toward in your future, you can improve your emotional well-being.

17.  What are some things that make you happy?

Asking this question helps you identify what gives you pleasure and lifts you up, letting you know what to do when you’re in a bad mood. These could be listening to music, watching a favorite film, or spending time with a friend.

18. Did you feel included today or excluded?

Did you feel like part of the group or an outsider in your interactions with others today? If you felt excluded, what do you think caused that? Could it have been your perception, or were you intentionally left out?  

19. What makes you doubt yourself?

Doubting yourself is often a type of repetitive thinking. Now is the perfect time to think about what makes you question your inner wisdom and judgment and why. What can you do to change this outlook?

20. Did you reach any goals today?

Setting goals is an easy way to stay focused at work or home. You should set at least one goal every day and check in to see if you have reached it at the end of the day.

Every time you accomplish a simple task like taking a short walk around the block or finishing a project can boost your mood.

21. Can you describe the last time you had fun?

People who have more fun are less likely to suffer from depression and bad moods. You should think about the last time you had fun yourself or with other people.

A sign that you need to improve your emotional well-being is not being able to remember an enjoyable time in the recent past. 

22.  What was the biggest challenge you faced today?

When you check in with yourself, think about the obstacles and challenges of the day. Looking at how you conquered those situations can help you feel better about yourself and more upbeat.

Focus more on your ability to manage challenges rather than how disruptive the problem was.

23.  Do you welcome life or feel you’re fighting against it?

Those who welcome life know how to embrace every challenge and joyous moment as they happen. If you feel you resist life, you’re fighting against reality rather than accepting each moment as it comes without judgment.

How to Use These Emotional Check-In Questions

Once you get answers to these self-check-in questions, it’s time to learn what to do with your findings. 

If you are unhappy and show signs of depression, you need to talk with a professional about your feelings. Even talking to a friend or loved one can help.

Here are some positive actions you can take to improve your emotional health.

• Expand your support system.

• Talk to a therapist.

• Pick a new hobby.

• Practice meditation.

• Spend more time outside.

• Set weekly goals for yourself.

• Feel comfortable saying no to others.

• Get more exercise.

• Join a support group.

• Get more sleep every night.

• Look for ways to reduce your stress.

If you feel emotionally drained, or if your emotions control you, checking in with yourself can help. Take some time to go over these 23 questions and your responses to each one.

Checking in can help you decide when to get support from others and how you can improve your emotional health.