The Daily App That Keeps Me On Top Of All My Good Habits
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I’ll be the first to admit — when I first started tracking my moods, I did so out of sheer boredom. Who would’ve thought it would become one of the most beneficial additions to my life, as well as one of my most cathartic daily habits?
Certainly not me. And yet, here I am.
Mood-tracking has been the most impactful habit to my overall mental and emotional health, as the most convenient, low-effort change I’ve made to my daily routine.
Allow me to explain. A few years ago, I downloaded a mood-tracking app called ‘Daylio.’ In the beginning, I’d thought it would be a cutesy way for me to utilize my phone more, outside of calls, texts and emails (FYI: I’m not a Candy Crush or games person.) Plus I began to like the idea of tracking or measuring things, after seeing how effective both my period and expense trackers were.
Anyway, as it turns out, the app offered more than I could’ve ever predicted. Not only does it allow you to log your moods through the use of icons, emoji’s and actual text, but it also sends you weekly “mood reports” which include a chart of the things you did (or didn’t do) on your good days and not-so-good days.
Here’s how it works (Editor’s Note: I’m displaying the app view in both dark mode and light mode, for preference. Each split image has the same information.)
1. Pick Your Mood
At the end of your day, pick your overall mood. This is completely customizable. For me, this includes: Rad, Good, A-Okay, Meh, Bad & Awful. In the photo above, the “three dots” under the emoji to the right of “rad” are actually a drop-down option for either “Good” or “A-Okay” since I consider them both positive-neutral moods.
2. Select Your Activities
Once a mood is selected, pick the icons that best illustrate or reflect the reasonings behind your day. Mine include everything from “Overthinking” and “Bad Conversation,” to “Meditation” and “Goal Achieved!”
3. Type Away Details (Optional)
This is a bonus, but I highly recommend it. Write down the details of your day in the text box. This can include a sentence or two, but I’m super detailed and I will write down everything. Subsequentially, my mood-tracker has morphed into somewhat of a journal.
4. Get Your Mood Report
…& you’re done! On a weekly basis, my app will send me a report and chart of my overall mood that week. This helps me to better understand what I did, on which day, that contributed to my overall happiness, apathy or sadness. It also gives you awards for achieving your personalized goals (or built-in goals) on the app. Awards include 5 “Good Days” in a row, consistent tracking, and so forth.
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Having a mood tracker has given me a sense of accountability and understanding as it pertains to my emotions. I can now see which habits I have that contribute to my overall contentment and joy (such as checking things off my task-list, exercising, taking my vitamins, reading, self-care and such). It also shows me what my habits are on my downer days (too much isolation, procrastination, eating crap food, self-loathing, self-shaming, overthinking, etc.)
While I do use an app on my phone to digitally track my moods, I’ve actually transitioned (and upgraded) to also include a physical tracker. Writing things down (versus typing them) helps me feel as though I’m further manifesting my better moods. And gives me a greater sense of responsibility and accountability.
