Are you struggling with negative emotions and feeling like they control you? If so, a mood journaling exercise may help you gain control over your feelings. Many of us experience vague or undefined anxiety or depression, and it can be difficult to identify the root causes.
A mood journal is a way to take action around your emotions and identify patterns and trends in your feelings. By keeping a record of your thoughts, emotions, and challenges, you may reduce anxiety and depression, as putting problems down on paper can help you see causes and solutions more clearly.
To get started with mood journaling, all you need is a blank notebook and a pen, or MyselfTracker iOS app with the Mood Journal check type with all needed fields ready. The iOS APP is in Beta testing, if you want to be among the first ones, who tries it, then please contact us.
Each day, take a few quiet moments to reflect on your biggest emotions from the day and fill out the following columns: the name of the emotion, situation with facts that caused it, the physical behaviors or actions it caused you to take. Those are required to understand whether the emotion is appropriate to the situation, and whether the situation is distress to be tolerated or a problem to solve.
Sometimes it’s really difficult to identify the emotion that you feel and MyselfTracker Mood Journal provides a long list of them. You can look through the list and select one or more that reflect your current state most accurately.
If the emotion wasn’t positive, you can make an action plan to address the situation or use healthy coping mechanisms to manage the distress. Remember that it may take time to see results, but don’t be discouraged. By continuing to journal and fine-tune your action plan, you can gain control over your emotions and improve your mental health. While premade emotion journals are available, there’s no need for any special products or materials to get started. Keeping a mood journal can help you recognize triggers, notice warning signs of strong emotions, and work towards eliminating or avoiding certain triggers, ultimately allowing you to take control of your emotions.
Finally, if you’re working with a psychologist, an emotion journal can allow you to clearly record details in the moment to later analyze with the specialist.
How can the MyselfTracker app be more convenient than paper in this context?
- It has all the necessary fields
- There’s a list of all emotions to choose from
- It’s easy to see what you felt on a specific day
- All entries are in one place
- No one else can see them as access to the app can be secured with a PIN code
If you’d like to try out the app, then just send us a message and we will share the link to the iOS app.