Track Your Mood

About two years ago now, I saw a cute post on Pinterest about a daily mood log. It was originally created on the post for bullet journalists as something to log on a daily basis. I decided to put this mood log/tracker in the front of my paper planners to see how I do throughout the year, find my triggers for my anxieties and depression and bring attention to ways I can better my mental health.

My main thought with tracking my moods was that your worst day only lasts 24 hours, so if I could get through my “worst day” I can definitely continue to live another day that could be even better. Pain never lasts forever.

As a whole year comes and goes, you can look back and see how well you are doing or if you need to find a way to change your moods. Keeping up with a simple daily task can also help you to feel accomplished. When you think that everything in your life is going “wrong,” at least you did one thing “right” by logging your mood for the day as it comes to a close.

Another advantage to tracking your moods is that it can be used as a cheap way for your own personal therapy, since you are actively acknowledging what you are feeling like on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. This helps you draw attention to your ups and downs and how you can pinpoint how to fix your extreme lows.

You also can use this tracker as an active way to recall everything that has happened over the year. It is a great way to keep a detailed personal history of your mental state. With this active history log, you can thus see your patterns and time when you might drop into your lower moods.

I have done this for two consistent years thus far and the results are amazing. Sure, I’ve had some bad streaks or bad months. But seeing all the days that I did have a positive mood feels good because I know that I did right by staying on task and it allows me to connect to my mental health.

Here is a tip though. Plan colors that you will have consistent access to. Seeing a change in shades of red or blue can throw off the whole tracker and become confusing. Also, keep a pencil with your tracker for the days you can’t color in your moods. Simply writing a “P” for pink or a “G” for green can suffice until you have the opportunity to go back and fill in your color.

All of this seems trivial and minor, but I guarantee, it will make you feel better when you see your progress and you are able to call attention to your mental state. You can use my example of a mood log/tracker with my personal two years of tracking in the featured blog post image. It’s still the beginning of the year so it’s not too late to start!