Before this course: Purpose, Gratitude & Wellbeing (course 9.14). You already know the WHO definitions of health and mental health, the links between purpose, relationships and health (and why they are links, not proof), values and a first purpose draft, gratitude and its small effect sizes, kindness, the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines basics, and your support list. Here we turn those ideas into routines you can run every week, and we use reflection to adjust them.
Before this course, and your weekly check-in
A garden needs watering on a schedule, not only when you remember. A wellbeing routine is a watering schedule for you. A weekly check-in is looking at the garden once a week to see what is growing and what is dry.
- A routine is an action tied to a cue (a time, a place or another habit), like the habit recipes from course 9.12: "After I [cue], I will [action]."
- A check-in is a short, regular look at how you are doing. It gives you your own pattern over time.
- The WHO-5 Well-Being Index is a short, widely used questionnaire. It asks how often, over the last two weeks, you felt cheerful and in good spirits, calm and relaxed, active and vigorous, fresh and rested when you woke, and that daily life has things that interest you. Each item is scored 0 to 5, and the total (0 to 25) is often multiplied by 4 to give 0 to 100. A review (Topp et al., 2015) found it valid as a screening tool and as an outcome measure.
- Honest limits: a score below about 50 (out of 100) is commonly used as a signal to talk with a professional, but different sources use slightly different cut-offs. It is a screen, not a diagnosis, and it cannot replace an assessment by a health professional. This course does not score you. Use the five questions to notice your own pattern.
- Self-ratings change day to day. Look at trends over weeks, not single numbers.
- Call or text 9-8-8, the Suicide Crisis Helpline. It is free, open 24/7, in English and French.
- Emergency: call 9-1-1 (or your local emergency number where 9-1-1 is not available).
- Source: Canada.ca, 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline: www.canada.ca/en/public-health/news/2023/11/9-8-8-suicide-crisis-helpl
- Source: RCMP online reporting page (9-1-1): signaler.grc.ca/pei/en
- Call or text 988, or chat at chat.988lifeline.org. It is the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: free, confidential and open 24/7.
- Emergency (police, fire, ambulance): call 911.
- Source: 988 Lifeline: 988lifeline.org/
- Source: NHTSA National 911 Program: www.911.gov/
- Crisis line: NCMH Crisis Hotline 1553, open 24/7.
- Emergency: call 911 (free, nationwide).
- Source: Daily Tribune quoting the NCMH (Dec 2025), for 1553: tribune.net.ph/2025/12/27/anxiety-depression-top-reasons-for-calls-to-
- Source: The Philippine Star (1 June 2018), for 911: philstar.com/headlines/2018/06/01/1820699/911-designated-nationwide-em
- The nationwide psychological assistance hotline is 12356, set up by the National Health Commission. Local health departments run it.
- In an emergency: police 110, fire 119, ambulance 120.
- Source: National Health Commission notice on 12356: www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202412/content_6994470.htm
- Free mental-health lines listed by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Yorisoi Hotline 0120-279-338 (24 hours, foreign-language option) and #Inochi SOS 0120-061-338 (24 hours). Inochi no Denwa 0120-783-556 runs daily 16:00 to 21:00.
- In an emergency: police 110, fire and ambulance 119.
- Source: MHLW, telephone consultation list (Japanese): www.mhlw.go.jp/mamorouyokokoro/soudan/tel/
- Source: Tokyo Metropolitan Police, Help hotline information (110): www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/multilingual/english/finding_services/
- Source: FDMA, Making the Most of the Ambulance Service (119): www.fdma.go.jp/publication/portal/items/portal002_english.pdf
- Crisis line: 109, the Ministry of Health and Welfare's 24-hour suicide prevention line (free to call).
- Emergency: 112 police, 119 fire and ambulance.
- Source: Korea Herald (May 2026): www.koreaherald.com/article/10759801
- Source: Digital Today, on 109 and the 112/119 emergency numbers: www.digitaltoday.co.kr/en/view/101021/callers-with-phone-service-suspe
If your check-in shows low mood, loss of interest, or feeling hopeless most days for more than two weeks, talk to a doctor or a licensed mental health professional. In Canada, call or text 9-8-8 (24/7). In the Philippines, call the NCMH Crisis Hotline 1553. For other countries, see the In your country boxes; elsewhere, call your local emergency number.
- Write these five lines on a page or a notes app: cheerful, calm, active, rested, interested.
- Rate each from 0 (none of the time) to 5 (all of the time) for the last two weeks.
- Write the total and the date. Do not judge it. It is a starting point.
- Choose a fixed time each week for your check-in, for example "Sunday after dinner".
- Write the cue: "After I clear the table on Sunday, I fill in my five lines."
- Repeat the check-in next week and compare.
- If the numbers are low and stay low for two weeks, use the Get help box above.
- Check: you have a first rating, a date, a weekly cue and a support number saved.
Videos by other creators on YouTube, for reference. They are not made by or affiliated with The Future Market.
Read the video script
[Host] "A routine is a watering schedule for you."
[Text on screen: Check-in once a week] "Pick a time, rate five simple lines, and look at the pattern over weeks, not one day."
[Text on screen: A screen, not a diagnosis] "A well-being questionnaire can tell you when to talk to someone. It cannot diagnose anything."
[Host] "If you feel low most days for two weeks, talk to a professional. Canada: 9-8-8. Philippines: 1553."
Do your first check-in today with the five lines. Set a weekly cue and write it down. Save one support number in your phone.
ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude
Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.
For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.
I'm learning "Wellbeing Practices: routines and reflection" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "Before this course, and your weekly check-in". What the lesson teaches: - A routine is an action tied to a cue (a time, a place or another habit), like the habit recipes from course 9.12: "After I [cue], I will [action]." - A check-in is a short, regular look at how you are doing. It gives you your own pattern over time. - The WHO-5 Well-Being Index is a short, widely used questionnaire. It asks how often, over the last two weeks, you felt cheerful and in good spirits, calm and relaxed, active and vigorous, fresh and rested when you woke, and that daily life has things that interest you. Each item is scored 0 to 5, and the total (0 to 25) is often multiplied by 4 to give 0 to 100. A review (Topp et al., 2015) found it valid as a screening tool and as an outcome measure. - Honest limits: a score below about 50 (out of 100) is commonly used as a signal to talk with a professional, but different sources use slightly different cut-offs. It is a screen, not a diagnosis, and it cannot replace an assessment by a health professional. This course does not score you. Use the five questions to notice your own pattern. - Self-ratings change day to day. Look at trends over weeks, not single numbers. The exercise I'm working on: Do your first check-in today with the five lines. Set a weekly cue and write it down. Save one support number in your phone. I'm stuck. Please: 1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example. 2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step. 3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.
I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "Before this course, and your weekly check-in" from the course "Wellbeing Practices: routines and reflection". Here's what the lesson says: A garden needs watering on a schedule, not only when you remember. A wellbeing routine is a watering schedule for you. A weekly check-in is looking at the garden once a week to see what is growing and what is dry. The activity: Do your first check-in today with the five lines. Set a weekly cue and write it down. Save one support number in your phone. Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words. Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.
Sources
- Topp, Østergaard, Søndergaard & Bech (2015), "The WHO-5 Well-Being Index: A Systematic Review of the Literature," Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics: doi.org/10.1159/000376585
- WHO fact sheet, "Mental health: strengthening our response": www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-o
- CAMH, Depression (symptoms): www.camh.ca/en/health-info/mental-illness-and-addiction-index/depressi
- 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline (Canada): 988.ca/
- WHO Philippines and DOH, NCMH Crisis Hotline 1553 (24/7): www.who.int/philippines/news/detail/10-09-2020-doh-and-who-promote-hol
A sleep routine
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A movement routine
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Calming practices, honestly
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Reflection and writing
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Screens and connection
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Your weekly plan, and when to get help
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Final project
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Quiz
What is the WHO-5 used for?
A short well-being questionnaire used as a screening tool and an outcome measure; it is not a diagnosis.
How much sleep do adult health guidelines recommend for adults 18 to 64?
7 to 9 hours of good-quality sleep, with regular bed and wake-up times (for example Canada's guidelines).
How long before bed does the CDC suggest turning off devices?
At least 30 minutes.
How much aerobic activity do adult guidelines recommend for adults 18 to 64?
At least 150 minutes per week, plus muscle strengthening on at least 2 days (for example Canada's guidelines).
How confident were the authors in the 2024 exercise and depression review?
Low or very low confidence, because of possible bias in the studies.
What did the Goyal (2014) review find about mindfulness?
Low evidence for stress, moderate evidence for anxiety, depression and pain; no evidence it was better than active treatments.
What did the MYRIAD trial find?
No evidence that school-based mindfulness was better than usual lessons for adolescent mental health at one year.
What did Frattaroli's review of 146 studies find about expressive writing?
Overall small benefits.
How much of the differences in teen wellbeing did technology use explain at most in Orben and Przybylski?
At most 0.4%.
What did the Hunt (2018) experiment find?
Limiting social media to about 30 minutes a day for three weeks reduced loneliness and depression in 143 students (a small study).
When are mood symptoms of concern, according to CAMH?
When they occur most days, persist for more than two weeks and affect work, school or relationships.
What should someone do in a crisis or immediate danger?
Call a crisis line or the local emergency number; numbers differ by country (for example Canada 9-8-8, Philippines NCMH 1553).
Final exam
This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.
Certificate
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