Mood Journal
What is the number one tool that people use when trying to lose weight? A food diary or a calorie counter. Why do we do this? Well, we know that in order to lose weight, we have to restrict the number of calories that we take in or lose those calories through exercise. The only way to know how many calories we are consuming in a day is to track it. Did you ever think that we could do the same thing with our mental health?
In order to find a solution to the feelings we are experiencing, we must get to the root of the issue.
We need to understand why certain events in our day-to-day lives set us off. A tool that you can use for this is a mood journal. A mood journal allows you to write down occurrences that happen throughout your day and assign the mood that you felt in that moment. This way you can look back and better understand what some of your triggers are. Perhaps you can even distinguish a pattern. If you can narrow down the cause, you can start to work on a solution.
So what do you need to make your own mood journal?
You could buy one that's already premade. Here is a link to an option on Amazon. However, if you don’t want to spend the money to buy one, you can make your own. Let's look at some key components.
A key code
This key code could be colors or emojis or anything you want it to be to represent your moods. I would suggest at least 6 different emotions. Happy, Content, Stressed, Worried, Sleepy, and other emotions of your choosing.
Separate blocks for each day of the week
Within each day you can record events that happened. Specifically, keep track of events that shifted your mood. This could be something as small as a coworker giving you a cookie or as big as paying off a car loan. I record days that I work from home vs the office. I also typically record how many cups of water I consume during the day and how many hours of sleep I got the night before. I also record my caffeine intake as I know that that is a big factor in how I feel.
A quick glance at your moods for the week
In the mood tracking journal listed above, this is accomplished with a circular chart that has block space for one emoji to fit in for AM and PM for each day of the week. This is so you can track your overall mood from morning to night.
A section for weekly reflection
Make a little writing section available for you to reflect on your week as a whole. Take a look at everything that happened and see if you can distinguish patterns. Try to reflect on events that caused a positive, negative, and neutral mood. What was the happiest moment of your week? What was the most frustrating moment? What were you grateful for?
A section for monthly reflection
After your month is over, take a look back at each week and reflect on your goals and moods. Write about how you succeeded and what things you can work on for next month.
Written by Sharla Ball
