Below are four shadow work worksheets, written out in full on this page and available as a printable PDF — no email address, no form, no landing page in between. They are the same four I actually use: a reaction log, a projection worksheet, a cost-and-benefit sheet, and a small experiment tracker.
Why these are on the page rather than behind a form
Most searches for a shadow work PDF end at a landing page that wants an email address first. Sometimes the file is good. Often it is twenty pages of the same generic prompts with a large logo, and you have traded your inbox for something you could have written yourself.
So these are here in full. Print the page, screenshot the sheets, or rule up four pages in a notebook — the format is deliberately simple enough to reproduce by hand in about two minutes. There is a newsletter at the bottom if you want one, and it is not holding anything hostage.
Download the four worksheets as a printable PDF — five A4 pages, no email address, no landing page in between. It is the same four sheets set out below, laid out with room to write.
One honest note about worksheets in general: the structure is the useful part, not the paper. A worksheet stops you from writing four pages about your character, which is what an empty page tends to produce and which is the failure mode of this whole practice.
Worksheet 1: the reaction log
This is the foundational one, and if you only use a single sheet, use this. Run it for two weeks before doing any interpretation at all. Four columns, one line per incident.
| Day | What happened (facts only) | My reaction, 1–10 | What it deserved, 1–10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue | Sister mentioned the house again on the phone | 8 | 2 |
| Wed | Colleague described their project in the standup | 7 | 1 |
Rules that make it work. Facts only in column two — no adjectives, no motives, nothing you could not have filmed. The gap between columns three and four is the entire finding; a nine against a two is shadow material, a four against a four is just Tuesday. And do not interpret while logging, because interpreting turns it into an argument with yourself.
After a fortnight you will have three or four recurring themes rather than twenty incidents. The repetition is what you are looking for.
Worksheet 2: the projection sheet
Use this on one entry from the log — whichever had the biggest gap between the two numbers. One sheet per trait, not per person.
- The trait, in one word or phrase. Not the person. “Talks about their own work”, not “Daniel”.
- What I tell myself about people who do this. Write the actual sentence, in the actual tone. It is usually harsher on the page than it felt.
- The last time I did something like it. There is nearly always one. If nothing comes, ask when you wanted to.
- What would have happened if I did this at fifteen? Who would have reacted, and how? This is the question that usually produces the material.
- What did not doing it get me? Safety, approval, being the reliable one. There is a real benefit or it would not have held.
- What is it costing now? In specifics: a conversation not had, an opportunity not asked for, a resentment carried.
Question four is the one people skip and it is the one carrying the sheet. Traits are rarely disowned because they are bad — they are disowned because they were expensive in a particular household.
Worksheet 3: cost and benefit
A short one, four boxes, done once per trait. It exists to stop the practice becoming a list of faults, which is where solo shadow work usually goes wrong.
| Keeping it hidden | Letting some of it out | |
|---|---|---|
| What I gain | ||
| What it costs |
Fill the top-left box honestly and the sheet does its job. Suppression is not irrational — it bought you something, and until you can name what, you will keep doing it while telling yourself you have decided not to.
The top-right box is where people write something implausible, like “total authenticity”. Keep it small and concrete: one honest sentence in one conversation.
Worksheet 4: the experiment tracker
Integration happens in behaviour, not in insight. This sheet is the one that converts the other three into anything.
| The five per cent | When | What I predicted | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| Say I disagree, once, in Thursday’s meeting | Thu | Awkward silence, seen as difficult | Nobody reacted. One person agreed. |
The prediction column is the important one and it is missing from every worksheet I have seen elsewhere. Writing down what you expect to happen before you do it turns a vague dread into a testable claim, and the gap between the prediction and the outcome is usually large. That gap is the thing that actually changes behaviour over time — not the insight, the disconfirmed prediction.
Keep the experiment small enough that failing at it costs nothing. One sentence, one email, one declined request.
How to use the four together
Two weeks on worksheet 1. Then one pass through 2 and 3 on a single theme. Then one experiment from worksheet 4, and back to the log.
That is roughly a month per theme, which is slower than most material suggests and about right. Doing all four sheets on six traits in one weekend produces a document, not a change.
A limit worth setting before you start: twenty minutes, and stop when the time is up even mid-sentence. Long unstructured sessions are where this tips from examination into rumination, and the difference between the two is covered in how to tell shadow work apart from rumination. If you finish a session feeling worse than when you started, and that happens twice running, stop and read that page rather than pushing on.
For the wider method these sheets belong to, see how to do shadow work. For a longer bank of questions to draw on, the prompts sorted by what they are for.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a PDF version?
Yes — a five-page A4 PDF, linked directly with nothing in front of it. Page one is how to use the sheets and the safety note; pages two to five are the four worksheets, one per page, with the lines and boxes already ruled. It has no images in it, so it is about 12 KB and prints the same on any printer. The sheets are written out in full above as well, if you would rather not download anything.
Do I need to buy a shadow work journal?
No. Four ruled pages do the same work. A bound journal is pleasant and occasionally motivating, but nothing in the practice requires one.
Can I do these worksheets as a beginner?
Worksheet 1 is the beginner version — it asks only for observation, no interpretation, and it is the right place to spend the first fortnight. The other three assume you have material from it.
How often should I fill them in?
The log is a line or two a day, taking under a minute. The other three are once per theme, not daily. Daily use of worksheet 2 in particular tends to become circling rather than progress.
What if a sheet brings up something big?
Stop the exercise and do something that puts you back in the room — walk, cold water, ring someone. If the material is trauma, structured work on it belongs with a therapist rather than a worksheet; that boundary is set out in shadow work and therapy.
These worksheets are a self-reflection tool, not a clinical instrument, and not a substitute for therapy. If what surfaces is more than you want to hold on your own, that is a reason to work with someone qualified. Sourcing standards are in the editorial policy.
