THE BENEFITS OF KEEPING A MOOD TRACKER

Mood trackers are a new trend sweeping Tumblr and Pinterest. They are usually found in bullet journals but can easily be made by themselves. Very easy to keep, they require a grid which has boxes for everyday of the year. At the end of each day, you fill the box in with a colour which represents how you felt overall that day. For example, blue would correspond to a sad day and yellow to a happy day.

The benefits of keeping a mood tracker include how little effort it requires. Instead of writing in a diary, all you have to do is sum up how you felt with one box. Also, there are loads of different ways in which you can present it. Templates can be found online, but it’s very easy to draw and make one yourself. Plus you can get creative, making your grid a pie chart or using doodles to fill in your boxes.

Once the year is up, you can review your ups and downs. Looking at how you’ve felt over a long period of time helps you clearly see improvements or deteriorations in your mental health. It’s a great tool for managing depression, bipolar disorder or anxiety as you can better understand the way your emotions work.

Trackers can be applied to other parts of your life. Using a habit log can help motivate you and sleep records are easy ways to visualise your schedule. There are loads of great ways to use mood trackers, and lots of great resources out there.