Been Working on an Observation

regarding fantasizing/daydreaming and potential drivers for it.  This is kind of different, because most of my entries are targeted at thoughts, and not this kind of self reflection/analysis.  However, the app provides a nice place to capture self analyses like this.  Because the app is on my phone, I can review this entry and let it develop.  Fun stuff.  Do you use the app for things like this?

Porpoising Day it Was

Porpoised today, mostly due to forecasting conflict with a potential program.  I keep forecasting conflict with this new opportunity, even though it is not a sure thing.  If this opportunity does present itself, there is only a slim chance that it will have confrontational conflict.  What's a guy to do?  I can challenge the thoughts based on past experience.  I can think about how I can mitigate the potential for conflict and update the plan with those thoughts.  I can recognize that these are distorted thoughts, and try to think about the opposite, which is just as distorted (thought probably more likely).  Any more suggestions?

Getting ready for tomorrow

Setting some goals, reviewing some entries, and doing some general preparation.  Have a lot of things going on this week.  We have a major program milestone coming up.  I have a new project that may be starting soon, so lots of opportunities for distortions.  Regarding the house, I'm meeting with my realtors tomorrow.  Got some other stuff happening too.  I'll keep the app handy, and I'll manage.

Using the App on Weekends

Many of my posting relate to using the app on weekdays, simply because there are more weekdays during the week and because that's when I have the most opportunities for distorted thoughts.  However, the app is useful on weekends too.  I still have distorted thoughts on weekends.  My condition doesn't seem to take weekends off.  Checking my experiences and reviewing a few entries can really get me going on the right foot on any day of the week.  It's good to take the time to review my entries.

The House is Moving Along

My house is just about ready for market.  The App helps me keep focused on this, mostly through the prioritization scheme.  Getting this far has also put to rest distorted thoughts such as I'll never get this done, or I can't do this and everything else I need to do.  Both those are exaggerations.  Sometimes I feel too busy to use the app, but even reviewing just a couple of pertinent entries can help and doesn't take long.  Something to think about.

How's it working for you?

Are you able to use Mood Sentry?  Are the examples and hints useful?  Does it help with your therapy?  Can your therapist help you with it?  We're wondering if we need more examples and support.  There's really no guidance given in regards to how therapists can work with this.  We may need to develop such material.

Quick User Note

Did you know that you can get to the main window when a reminder pops up?  Hit the menu icon and tap the home image button.  That will get you to the main menu.  If you have advice like I have, such as checking your daily goals, then this tid bit may help.

Started a new Ideal Self

This one relates to living in the present.  I seem to forecast a lot as well as fantasize about highly improbably scenarios.  I've done that since I was a kid.  Day dreams.  I'm looking to push my thoughts to more realistic and probable scenarios.  I'm just starting this entry, so I have the basic concept of what I want, a couple of benefits, and an initial approach.  I think I'll like this one.  It's my 4th ideal self.  I never thought I'd need more than one, but now I can see that there are multiple self states I'd like to achieve.  Have you tried setting an ideal self?

Winding Things Up for the Day

Been a busy day.  I think I have an all or nothing distortion going on regarding things I need/want to do.  There are lots of things I need to do on any given day.  I have work stuff, house stuff, and other interests.  I can think of a lot of things to do on any given day.  My initial impulse is to work on everything I can think of.  That's a mighty tall task, particularly so because I can think of a lot of things to do.  Here's where I think the all or nothing may be coming in: if I don't do all that I thought up, then I've failed for the day.  Looking at that in text I'm not 100% sure I captured the thought, but if I did, wow.  I can see how extreme that thought is.  I used my prioritization scheme today to figure out what was important.  That helped cull the to-do list, or at least helped me identify the stuff I really need to do.  I tend to feel overwhelmed these days and think this all or nothing thought might be in the ballpark in regards to what's driving my mood.  I'll work on this some more.

General Notes for you...

Check out the hints available from the options menu.  These hints provide information regarding how I use this app and may help you.
When the reminders appear (assuming you have them set), you can get to the home page via the options menu.  There is a home icon, just select it.
There is limited ability to change the font size.  Check out the options menu and select Settings.

Still Tired, Still Busy

Making the time to review my entries has really helped me get through these past couple of months.  I don't always make the time to visit the app, but most days I do.  There are lots of things that help me, such as reviewing my experiences and past entries.  The best part for me is the ability to go back over some of my entries and update them to better suit my current situation.  This can be either because I changed or because over time I gained a better understanding of myself.  How's it work for you?

Took a Nap Today

I haven't read anything about napping helping with mood disorders, but I think it really helped me today.  I'm kind of busy these days, and recharging my brain with a nap helped me to better tackle some of my distorted thoughts after work.  Think I should include a nap timer in the app?

Another busy day

When I got into work I learned that there was an urgent situation that needed to be addressed.  There were data to be analyzed and a solution to be defined ASAP.  I got on it right away, but did find some time to review some entries I have made regarding technical tasks and pop up items.  It helped to review my existing entries in the app when ever I could find the time throughout the day.  I think reviewing my customized entries helped keep my mood in check which in turn helped me work with the team to develop and deliver a solution by the end of the day.  Are you creating your own customized entries?

Busy day today

I'm still distracted by work priorities, getting the house ready for the market, a technical task I'm working, and few other things.  I set some goals for today and knocked most of them out.  However, I ignored my mid-day and evening reminders.  I'm just kind of tired and distracted.  I've posted previously that reviewing my entries can really help when I'm loaded down with stuff to do like I am now, but for some reason I just let the reviews slip today.  Gotta get some sleep.  I'll let the morning reminder help me kick start my day tomorrow.

Emotional Reasoning

I pick up on things every now and then and it's kind of like a light turning on in my head.  I know I'm susceptible to emotional reasoning and I know that I'm in a low level, persistent funk right now, but I didn't realize how prevalent the emotional reasoning can be.  I picked up on it last night when I decided to call back a friend who had called a couple of days ago.  I just kept thinking that the conversation would be confrontational and/or never ending.  Those thoughts made me dread making the call and procrastinate.  However, for some reason the light went off and I realized these distortions were really being driven by emotional reasoning.  When I realized that I picked up the phone and made the call.  The call was pleasant and it did in fact end in a relatively short time.  I kept that light on this morning and knocked a couple of things off my daily goals list that I was tempted to delay.  I'll keep working on this.

Took Last Night Off from this

I just needed a break.  I've been feeling a bit anxious and depressed these last couple of weeks.  It seems that every year around this time I get into a funk that just lingers.  There's never a cause that I can put my finger on.  This is the first time I've encountered this since I've built this app.  I can say the app helps, but certainly hasn't made my symptoms go away.  It helps alleviate the symptoms, and helps me address distortions that typically come up when I'm in a funk like this. That's a good thing.  This year seems better in that I've not sunken as deep as I have sunk in previous years.  We'll see how things go over the next couple of weeks.  This is usually a June/July thing with me, so I'm expecting it to end soon.  I'll keep you posted.

Lots of self reflection these days

I'm using the app to help keep my mood in check and have been doing a lot of self reflection the past few days.  I've reported that I'm in a low level funk, though not in those words, recently.  I find my self thinking about situations that may never arise in which I "save the day" or something similar to that.  I'm not sure what's driving these fantasies, but I know I've done this since I was a kid.  The self reflection is related to why I may be doing this.  Other than that, I spent some time updating my entries in the app.  I worked that Ants one from the other night.  It may be a classic.  We'll see.  Perhaps I'll share it on this blog at a later date.  How are things with you?

Not much to report today

It was a fairly good day.  I set some goals and hit them, mostly.  I overrode one because I had something better to work on.  Other than that, I started my "Ants!" event entry.  I like it.  I tailored it a bit more this evening, then set some goals for tomorrow.  Time to turn in.  Good night.

Ants!

I was surprised to find a bunch of ants in our kitchen tonight.  When stuff like that happens I think that my night will be ruined because I'll use up all my time dealing with an issue that shouldn't have happened.  Don't see any distortions there, do you?  I'm getting better at catching these thoughts and countering them.  For example, there's really no reason for thinking that this will take all night.  I took care of things fairly quickly, moving the trash can outside, tossing the bag in the trash bin, and rinsing the trash can out.  This will be a good thing to record for future reference.  I seem to have issues thinking things I have to do will take up all my time and leave little room for things I want to do.  My prioritization scheme can help as can keeping a record of how long things actually take.  I think the app can help with these.

A general feeling of anxiety today

It's a low level feeling.  Not sure what's driving it.  It could be the result of a bunch of little things.  I think it's that I've stumbled a bit on getting the house ready to market.  I need to have some appliances repaired, a little more painting, a window replaced, and the yard cleaned up.  I think I can get this all done in a couple of weeks.  I was thrown off by the pop-up priorities yesterday.  I think those may have driven thoughts such as I'll never get the house ready.  Looking at that thought in print, it loses some of its power.  That's one way the app helps.  Sometimes when I see thoughts written down, they lose their power.  Have you experienced that?

Back from Vacation - Pop Up Priorities

I took the time last night to set some daily goals.  Guess what?  Got hit with some hot items on the project I'm supporting and a new project I'd like to support.  Lots of stuff due tomorrow. What did I do?  I focused on these new priorities and edited my daily goals to reflect these pop up items.  I was a little anxious, but I actually felt better about working on items like this than I have in the past.  I took a moment to review My Experiences to think about what thoughts might pop up and how I can handle them.  That helped.

It's the End of my Vacation

Lots of opportunities for distortions.  I didn't have the vacation I envisioned.  I was taken off task by the issue with my wife's computer earlier in the week, which really got in the way of my plans.  However, taking a moment to look back on the things I did I see that I did a lot and had a pretty good week in spite of the glitch.  I had some real quality time with my wife, I tried things I've never tried before, and for the most part I got all the stuff done that I needed to get done.  Note that one thing was not accomplished until late this afternoon, but so what?  I got it done.  I've now set some goals for tomorrow and will take some time to relax a bit before turning in.  Taking the time to review the stuff I did has helped me manage my mood.  It's a good thing to do and is the purpose of the mid-day reminder.

2 Social Events Today

Events like these can stress me out.  I can prepare for them by reviewing my observations, and in fact did so today.  It helps, but I still get stressed around a lot of people and commotion.  I tend to get very distracted by all the activity going on and have a tough time focusing on any one thing.  I also have issues talking to other people, being concerned with saying the "wrong" thing.  One resource that has helped has been the Living on the Spectrum book by Dr. Valerie L Gaus.  From this I learned to gauge my closeness to others and thus appropriate topics.  Typically, I repeat to myself "shared experience and common interests."  Those two topics are pretty safe in any situation.  Off to my second event.

Made Good Use of the Prioritization Scheme

I still have lots of stuff on my plate.  There were things I wanted to do, and things I needed to do.  I was a bit frustrated that I couldn't do it all.  I used the prioritization scheme and felt better about reducing something I wanted to do.  I did half of it, which was plenty and gave me more time to address the things I needed to do.   I'm liking the prioritization scheme a bit more.  I think the trick is to use it for guidance when making decisions.  It certainly doesn't cover all situations and doesn't need to.  Have you tried it?  Have you customized it?

Hope you Had a Happy 4th

I was going to post something related to gaining my independence from my depression, but I really can't claim that at this time.  I did have a good day yesterday.  I'm taking this week off of my regular job to focus a bit on this app and to get some much needed together time with my wife.  I'm having an issue with my wife's computer and that has taken me off task this week.  If you've read a few of my posts, you probably can guess that I'm forecasting things like spending all my time working on her computer and never getting it done.  These forecasts can drive me into a negative mood pretty quickly.  However, I'm really getting better at catching these thoughts early and challenging them.  The more I practice this, the better I get.  If you have similar issues, keep working them.  I'm sure you'll improve too.  Best of luck.

Glad to have the Evening Reminder

I know these are intrusive, but I like them.  Tonight I was feeling low due to focusing too much on that issue with my wife's computer and a technical task I've been struggling with.  The evening reminder popped up and I took the time to review it.  I realized that up until this evening I had a great day.  I took the day off and did some local traveling with my wife.  I ate at places I've never eaten at, I tried stand up paddle boarding, and got my car back from the shop and it runs great.  I then reviewed several entries I've made in the app, and realized that I'm making some real progress tracking down all my issues.  It was good to let the app distract me this evening.  How about you?

Made Good Use of the Mid-Day Reminder

Took the time to re-set myself with the mid-day reminder.  I was feeling stressed, but taking a moment to look back on my morning and reflect on what went well up to that point in my day was good.  I had an on-line account straightened out, which really helped me, I made contact with a couple of contractors on the house, and I did some car stuff that was badly needed.  It was good to reflect on the good stuff.  Does the mid-day reminder help you?

Doing OK Right Now

Just OK.  I switched anti virus software on both my and my wife's pc's.  That "should" not be a big deal, but has turned into quite an ordeal on her machine.  Lot's of frustration on my part, and the driving distortions.  I spent about 5 hours last night and another 6 hours this morning/afternoon trying to uninstall (completely) the previous AV software on her machine.  This will never end, this should not have happened, my vacation is ruined, my weekend is ruined, I'll never get to do what I want to do this week, and more.  I'm able to counter these thoughts but it's an uphill battle.  I'm really knocked off axis with this.  I'm so stressed that I'm not using the app, just working til exhaustion on her machine.  Looking at the app now, I'm starting with the prioritization scheme.  I'm putting this under high priority and looking at it as a significant repair to house or car.  This really needs to be addressed.  Looking at some of my other entries there's really nothing that addresses anything like this.  There are some related entries, like forecasting that the effort will take a lot of time, but nothing closer.  Think I have yet another new entry for the app.  I'm on vacation this week so my inputs to this blog may be sketchy.  We'll see.