Happy New Year

I created Mood Sentry for myself, to help me better manage my depression.  There's really no way for me to know if Mood Sentry will help others manage their moods.  I simply assume that because it helps me it may help others.  However, I really feel that no app will be sufficient in itself to cure depression.  It's the effort the individual puts into managing their condition that will make the difference.  If Mood Sentry doesn't help you then try something different.  It's not the app, but the belief followed by the effort that will make a difference in your life.  Try therapy, try other apps,  try books, but keep trying.  We at Mood Apps believe that mood disorders can be managed and potentially overcome through effort.  There's a lot of support available to help you (us) achieve a better life, but you (we) gotta work for it.  Happy New Year, and good luck!

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Working on the Next Update

This one will mostly be structural.  I thought about adding a new tool with a working title of Who I Am, which I thought might be a good thing to include.  The idea was that one could identify different aspects of who they are and also evidence supporting that claim.  For me, it might help me identify areas for improvement (such as areas for which I have no evidence), and may even suggest future courses of action.  However, I think I need to get this next update out because I've done a lot from a code structure standpoint and I'd like to wrap this change up and move on.

I'm also considering a free version that would have advertising in it.  I'm waffling on that because I think trying to sell to people who are trying to manage their depression/anxiety could be kind of sleazy.  I need to see what type of ads would show up on the screen before I can make such a judgement call.  We'll see.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Back from my Trip

Returned from my trip tonight.  Well, I returned, my luggage is still in Seattle.  I think I handle stuff like this better than I used to.  It's been a while since my luggage was lost, so I really don't remember exactly how I reacted the last time. This time I can definitely say that I was relaxed and just a bit peeved that they didn't tell me sooner that my bags were in Seattle.  I waited until all the bags were off the airplane before speaking with the baggage folks, who had a message from the Seattle office stating that my luggage missed the plane.  "Should" they have told me this sooner, or "it would have been better" had they told me sooner. I like the second version better.  The app has helped me to better handle situations like this by recording the thoughts at the time and identifying mitigation techniques.  Reviewing my entries and experiences helps make the mitigation techniques more automatic.  Does it do the same for you?

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Holiday Use

Today I made good use of Mood Sentry, reviewing My Experiences as well as a few entries in the Journaling and Thriving tool sets.  The main benefit has to do with something I don't think I've ever posted about before which is the canker sores I can get after periods of stress.  These things can be quite uncomfortable and thus can start my day off in a negative mood.  It's kind of like emotional reasoning in that the discomfort drives me to look at other things in my life through a lens of negativity. Fortunately, I'm getting better at recognizing this.  What types of distortinons pop up?  Overgeneralizations, such as these things will never go away, Magnifications regarding the importance of these things, and a should statement or two such as I should really handle my stress better.  I can counter these thoughts fairly easily.  The key for me is to take the time to examine my thoughts and see what's on my mind.  Mood Sentry helps in this respect with its reminders.  Of course, it's ultimately up to me to actually use the app.  I'm glad I did today.

I'll be Busy the Next Few Days

I'll be busy the next few days, so my posts may be infrequent.  If you're looking for help using Mood Sentry, try the hints, check out past entries on this blog, or drop me an e-mail at support@moodappsllc.com.  I'll try to post how I'm using the app over the holidays, which will be pretty much how I use the app on regular days.  I check it in the morning and periodically throughout the day.  It helps me get through all the fuss and commotion during this time of year.

Happy Holidays to you all.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Last Work Day of the Year Stress

At work today I had plans to get several things done, most of which I accomplished.  However, I found myself looking at the items I did not get to and thinking I didn't do enough.  Two things I've been telling myself that help: that the things I did complete were the important ones to complete, and I didn't have a realistic plan to begin with.  Looking back on my day, there was very little free time.  I was pretty focused on what I needed to accomplish because this was the last day of the year for us.  We'll be shut down until the 2nd.  So if I got the important stuff done, and didn't have time for anything else, wasn't what I did about the best I could have done?  It's now seeming to me that I did about the best I could do.  Regarding the items I did not get to, they actually can wait until after the holiday break.  I'm still a little stressed, but I'm feeling a bit better too.  I'll keep working on these thoughts.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Started an Event Record

I started and event record for the events of last week.  I had multiple things due and was very stressed all week.  I decided to start an Event Record entry.  I thought it would be fairly straight forward, but it's not.  It might not fit in this format, so I may have to switch tools.  Perhaps it would develop better as an Observation.  Those entries are usually the easiest for me.  I've done this before, meaning starting off with one tool to capture a thought pattern only to switch to another tool that better captured what really happened.  It's something to keep in mind if you find yourself struggling to capture your thoughts in Mood Sentry.  If one tool isn't quite right, try another.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Working no the Next Update

More code clean up and some interface changes.  The iPhone version will be just a touch cleaner, as will the android version.  I've restructured how I build the programs, which is why this update is taking a bit longer.  I want to make sure I didn't mess anything up in the process.  So far, so good.  I'm still thinking about adding a tool in the Thriving Tools section.  The working title is Who I Am. The idea is to identify who you are, or who you think you are with respect to things like value or spirituality.  It would be a two window view like My Experiences.  The upper window you'd capture who you think you are, and in the lower window you'd record evidence that supports that belief.  I think this might be a good exercise for myself, and thus other people.  I'll do a little research and see if I can find anything like the dimensions of self, or something like that.  If I develop this a bit more I'll post what I have and solicit feedback.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Quite a Week

It's Friday, and this work week is finally over.  I accomplished all I really needed to this week, and actually finished the last major item after 4 pm this afternoon.  These tasks were tinder to my thoughts, stoking all sorts of distortions this week.  So what to do now?  Reflect back on the week, the thoughts that came up, how I handled those thoughts and how things actually turned out.  I had a lot of forecasts of failure, that I would need to spend all night working on these tasks, that other people supporting this effort would tell me that they can't get their job done.  None of that happened.  I did spend some extra time working, particularly yesterday and today, but I was able to get some exercise in, run errands, and spend time with my wife.  I had to give a few things up and didn't work on the app as much as I would have liked, but it was only for a week.  I'm fairly open this weekend and expect to get some more personal stuff done.  I used the app every day to help counter the thoughts that kept popping up.  These initial thoughts are usually catastrophic, but I'm getting pretty good at catching them and countering them.  Things turned out good.  I need to keep this in mind.  Weeks like this are a fact of life and the fact that I navigated it successfully is something good to keep in mind.  I think there may be an observation, or perhaps an event to capture for future reference.  I think I'll try this as an event.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Tailoring My Experiences

Have you tried tailoring the My Experiences tool?  When I tailor one of those items I remove the word "Example:" at the beginning so I know that I tailored the entry.  The reason I do that is because my edits are often minor tweaks to the examples, which were my actual entries at one time.  Actually, after the last database update I have very few customized entries in My Experiences.  FYI, the way the system is set up is with two database fields for each manifestation and each mitigation.  One is the example and the other is for your custom input.  If the custom field if empty, then the system shows the example.  So the system will usually show you something unless you have a custom field with nothing but spaces.  Tailoring My Experiences is one of the first things I did with this app.  The reason was that the examples I found in books and on-line were not quite "me" so I figured I would create my own.  How about you?  I doubt that my entries reflect you, so did you take a stab at your own definitions?

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Classic Jumping to Conclusions for Me Today

I have multiple things that I'm trying to get done this week, and I was forecasting that I wouldn't get them all done.  I need input from others on every one of these things, which can really get my thoughts going in a distorted manner.  The counter thoughts I have help, such as when I think other people should have gotten back to me by now.  Also, when I think that I won't finish everything, I can challenge the need to finish everything this week (the goal of this week is partly a personal goal driven by the holidays).  Finally, there is a chance that I will get all three major items completed this week, so I focus things I can complete that will support the goals.  All this helps but doesn't eliminate the thoughts.  The thoughts linger and surface throughout the day.  I'll keep working on this and see how much stuff I can get done this week.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

A Better Day than Yesterday, but Still Tough

I think a better night's sleep helped.  I did wake up in the middle of the night, but got out of bed, had a drink of water, and returned to bed.  I was able to get back to sleep after a little restlessness.  I still have a lot going on at work, and I did fairly well actively addressing things in an attempt to keep things moving forward.  If all goes well I'll get a lot of stuff done this week.  I've been setting goals every day, but I've been forgetting to check my status at mid-day because I'm so stressed.  I'll keep working this and challenging any thoughts I identify.  I'm a little more optimistic that I'll get the important stuff done this week.  We'll see.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

A Monster Day Today

I went into the office and was stressed from the start.  I have a lot of high priority things this last week of the year for me.  The prioritization matrix identified several as High priority.  Yikes.  This was a first  for that experience.  It's always helped me set enough things aside that I could focus on just a couple if items.  Then, I had one item that took a long time to resolve, which resulted in thoughts of never getting anything done.  On top of this all I had to deal with multiple people throughout the day, which I'm just not designed to do.  So what did I do?  I just kept working, addressing my thoughts as best I could, and trying to identify things I could complete and get off my plate.  I was stressed all day and really tired, but I got some good stuff done today.  I started this off by stating I was stressed from the start.  That was mostly due to not getting enough sleep last night due to thoughts of not getting my work done this week.  I really need to keep working this and addressing these thoughts.  This is going to be a tough week, but I think it will end pretty good.  We'll see.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

How are the Hints?

Every now and then I check to see how the Hints feature is working for you.  I added the hints because I thought having guidance on the phone in regards to how to use Mood Sentry would be useful, or at least more useful than a FAQ page on the web.  A couple of updates ago I started lightly customizing the hints for some of the tools, or at least the ones that allow the user to enter multiple entries.  Prior to that I had the same hints list for all those tools.  I'd love some feedback on the hints, or even the functions of the app itself.  Let me know what you think.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Had a Good Day

Today was good because I got a lot of things done, though I had to overcome moderate inertia throughout the day.  I found myself procrastinating via TV and solitaire on the iPad.  I was reluctant to start the various tasks because I was forecasting quagmires and failure.  However, I was able to gently nudge myself to get up and get things done.  Like I said, I got a lot of things done today which is my main criteria for having a good day.  I did not set any goals for today in my Daily Goals tool.  What I did today was just keep a running list in my head.  I think in general it works out better if I document some goals in Mood Sentry and will do that for tomorrow.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Reviewing My Entries

Every now and then I take the time to review the entries I made.  I review many of them not with a particular thought in mind, but just a general review to see all the thoughts I've captured and to look for common items, or maybe items that essentially document the same thought but in different ways.  When  I do this, I sometimes delete some entries, I sometimes combine some entries, and I often reword some entries to better capture the thought and its impact.  When I do this, one of the thoughts that typically goes through my head is that "I should do this more often."  Which, as you probably noticed, contains a "should" statement.  That's OK.  I deal with that thought with a simple replacement: "It might be helpful if I did this more often."  I'm not really sure it would be much if any more helpful if I reviewed my entries more frequently, but I am sure it always helps when I do.  How about you?  Do you have enough entries to take the time to review them and look for patterns and common themes?

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Had an OK Day Today

I had an OK day today.  I was able to keep my stress in check, though I still felt a moderate amount of tension throughout the day.  I accomplished things on my Daily Goals list and even made some progress on the android version of the next update to Mood Sentry.  By that I mean I loaded it on a test device, found a bug, and corrected it.  I'll work with this update over the weekend and see what I think.  Changing the pop-up view (drop down, hints, and preferences) to have a white background with black font is looking a bit odd to me.  Maybe it will grow on me.  You'll know what I decided in the next update.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Working on the Next Update

The next update is mostly a clean up update.  I am thinking of changing how the pop up views look on Android.  They currently have a black background with nearly white letters.  I think I'll reverse that on the next update and make the Android version a little more like the iPhone version.  I like the consistency, and changing the iPhone background (of the pop up views) is kind of a pain on iOS 7.  I'm not sure I'll follow through on the Android change.  I'll have to check it out on my phone for a week or so to see how it looks.  Other than that, there's been a lot of restructuring of the code and clean up in terms of simplifying the structure.  I'll spend a little more time checking this update out because I've touched so many of the subroutines.  Stay tuned.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Had to Get Away from the Desk This Morning

I arrived at the office today and just started attacking my work without making the time to review Mood Sentry.  After a couple of hours I was feeling a bit anxious and decided to get away from my desk and walk out to my car.  There, I pulled out my phone and started to review My Experiences.  It helped.  I was able to recognize some distortions that were driving my mood.  These were my usual forecasts of conflict and tasks that will never get done.  I was able to address these and get back to work.  Note that addressing these involved action on my part, such as contacting people about the stuff that was on my mind and finding out the real answer, not what I imagined the real answer to be.  Making the time review My Experiences when something is bothering me is typically a productive idea.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Using the Daily Goals

When I first created the Daily Goals tool I planned on only having one item per line.  I thought this made sense because as I completed one goal or objective I could simply replace what ever was on that line with another goal or objective.  However, because the lines are long enough for multiple items I usually have more than one item per line, at least for the things I plan to accomplish.  I can still replace items if needed but I tend not to.  One benefit of doing this has been that at end of the day I can typically see multiple things I've accomplished.  If I only had one item per line then I would only see the last  three things I accomplished or at least intended to accomplish.  I get a better sense of perspective when I can see all or most of the things I accomplished in one glance.  Actually, I typically only track important things and if I really think about it I often realize that there were several other things I accomplished on that day.  For me, this can help defeat feelings of not having gotten anything done on a given day.  I thought about adding more lines to the things I plan to accomplish section but three lines seems to be adequate for me.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

One of My Entries...

I talk a lot about reviewing my entries.  Sometimes I post one.  This is one of those times.  This is an observation I did a while back, and still review/revise periodically…

Observation

Sometimes I have a lot of anxiety when  looking toward the stuff I need to do. The feelings are due to thoughts such as not being able to do the work, spending a lot of time working on something only to find out it's crap, not knowing on which to start.

These thoughts can drive procrastination.  I'm usually better off just picking something and starting it.  Setting a stopping point can help, which can be a time limit as well as a convenient stopping point.

This maybe driven by my tendency for all or nothing thinking, which may drive should statements telling me that I should be able to finish everything "today," which may drive labeling if I can't.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

The Color Scheme

Since there's a few new users out there, I'll take a moment to explain the color scheme.  I know the black background can seem kind of gloomy, but when I compose an entry, such as an essay or observation, it takes me while to get my thoughts together in cogent and succinct paragraphs.  I've just never been one of those people who writes well off the top of his head.  So, I made the background black to save battery life.  The text really isn't white either.  It's 75% or so from black to white, so it's really a very light gray.  Again, to save a bit on battery life.  Other than that, you might wonder how I came up with the gradient that goes from blue to yellow, or as I like to think of it, "blue" to "sunny."  Sometimes I think that's kind of a silly thing, but it's kind of the purpose of the app, to help me get from blue to sunny.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Sometimes it's Tough Getting Started

Sometimes it's tough getting started using Mood Sentry, for a given day.  I'm not sure why because I've had good results using it.  The symptom is that I'll delay using Mood Sentry rather than open it first thing in the morning.  That delay can end up lasting a good portion of the day.  Here's the catch, on those infrequent days that I delay using Mood Sentry I typically have something important to address and causing me stress and anxiety.  Isn't that when I need the tool the most?  Sometimes I'm able to push myself to use it and when I do it helps.  This is why I have the reminder automatically open Mood Sentry on my phone.  However, on these days in question I'll often close it with the intention of opening it again at a later time.  I'm not sure what to do about this other than relax and accept that this will happen every now and then.  I could beat myself up with a should statement ("you really should use the app!") but that would be counter-productive, I think.  I'll think about this a bit more and see if I can come up with a gentle but effective way to motivate myself to use the app on these days.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

After the Fact

It's not unusual for me to realize the distortion after the fact.  I've been stressing on things at work all week long.  Tonight, while reviewing My Experiences, I realized one of the thoughts that was driving my stress was a Should Statement related to updating my project plans earlier this year.  I "should" have asked for more money at the time.  My funds are getting kind of tight right now.  I used the example in My Experiences related to should statements, and it helped.  I replace the should with "it might have been better had" I asked for more money.  I also thought back to the process I used, and realized I did about as good as I could have done.  I might change things up a bit when doing forecasting in the future, but those changes will be minor.  And finally, thought money will be tight at the end, I think we'll get everything we need to get done, done.  So why the stress?  Even though I realized this after the fact, it still had a positive impact on my mood and I believe will continue to do so tomorrow.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Did a Bit Better Today

I'm still feeling a lot of stress, but I did a bit better today.  I focused early in my day on a few key things that were driving a lot of my stress, which were things that I was uncertain about.  So, I tried to clarify them which helped a lot.  I have an old Observation entry related to things like this in which I tell myself that when things start piling up and driving anxiety/stress, focusing on a few things that I can complete tends to help.  I think part of the reason is simply reducing the list of things to do.  I reviewed that entry tonight and will spend a few minutes reviewing more entries tomorrow at the start of the day. I think I'll do that rather than review My Experiences tomorrow, just to mix things up a bit.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Still Struggling

I've had a mild head ache all day and I think that the discomfort is essentially driving some emotional reasoning.  Because I feel bad, my thoughts are tending toward the negative.  I've been challenging my thoughts throughout the day, or at least the negative ones, and think I've done an OK job keeping my mood in check.  Work is a bit stressful these days with one project winding down and another spooling up, which may be driving the headache.  The prioritization scheme helps me focus on the important items, especially when setting goals.  I think I can lick this if I keep on top of my thoughts.  I set some goals for tomorrow and see how things go.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Yet an Even Better Day

I'm not sure if it's the preparation I've been doing or the phase of the moon, but each day seems to be a little better than the previous, though only a little better.  I used the Daily Goals and Prioritization scheme this morning to help me focus on the important things to get done today.  I was actually able to identify a couple of things to not work on, which helps with the feeling of being overwhelmed by all the stuff I can think of doing.  Other than that, I also had some good news on a couple of projects I'm working on, which usually helps.  I think I'll start my day the same way tomorrow and see how that goes.  I'll add a review of "My Experiences" to the morning routine because tomorrow I have multiple meetings and reviewing "My Experiences" usually helps on days like that.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

A Bit Better Than Yesterday

Today was a bit better than yesterday.  The same general feelings and thoughts, but I did a better job handling them today.  The result was less procrastination, but not significantly more work.  I think I let myself relax a bit more today.  Setting the goals last night and checking them in the morning definitely helped today.  I think a better night's sleep helped too.  I accomplished most of my stated goals, but realized late in the day that I needed to get some work related tasks done too, which I had forgotten about.  I sacrificed a couple of stated goals for these forgotten goals, which I think was the right thing to do.  Tomorrow is a work day and I have a lot of stuff happening, so tonight when I set some goals for tomorrow I will review my Prioritization matrix to help me identify what really needs to get done.  Reviewing the Prioritization matrix has helped during times of high stress at work.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Had a Mildly Tough Day

I was dealing with lethargy all day. I had some goals set, but I still felt overwhelmed when I thought about all the things I could be working on.  I was able to get focused on small, achievable tasks which I then addressed and completed, but then I'd start feeling lethargic and un-motivated (if that's a word).  Once I started doing something I would feel better, something that I've captured in an entry or two in Mood Sentry.  For some reason, I just had these nagging thoughts that whatever I worked on would become a quagmire.  Sometimes I get in mood like this and they can really linger.  Looking back on my day, I actually got a lot of stuff done, which puts the lie to the thoughts that drove the feelings.  I'll keep digging and see if I can nail what's driving these thoughts.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Had an OK Day Today

It started with a hike that I cut short due to rain.  I looked at that as an opportunity to work on things like getting my finances updated (somewhat), buying a new hiking shirt (my favorite hiking shirt is somewhat ratty), and working on Mood Sentry software updates.  I actually ended up getting a lot of stuff done, and hit most of the items on my Daily Goals list.  Tomorrow will be a similar day in that I'll do some fun stuff, catch up on some of my reading, and really hammer away at some updates.  These updates are mostly cleaning up the code now, which is kind of fun for me when I can allocate enough time to really dig into some of the nuances of writing app code.  I'll set some Daily Goals for tomorrow and turn in shortly.  I'm actually expecting tomorrow to be a pretty good day.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

How it Went Today

Thanksgiving went OK.  I reviewed my Event Prep entry before going to visit family and think that helped.  I wasn't as interactive as I thought I should have been, and didn't catch the should statement until after I came home.  There was a lot going on, and it kind of wore on my attention, but I was able to get out of the house for a bit and "decompress."  By that I mean getting away and relaxing for a bit.  I'm not sure why I wasn't as interactive as I think I should have been, and will work on that as I update the Event Prep entry with how things went.  I think there may be interesting stuff in there.  My first thoughts about it are along the lines that I wasn't sure what to say, which may sound odd to you but doesn't to me.  It's not uncommon for me.  I'll work this and see where it ends up.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Preparing for Thanksgiving

Family gatherings can really stress me out, mostly due to the constant draw on my attention.  I tried using the Event Prep tool for tomorrow's gathering.  Since this is a fairly new tool, I don't have a lot of experience with it.  My entry for Thanksgiving is kind of sparse right now, but I'll work on it some more tomorrow and really try to capture my thoughts and identify some counter thoughts before I go to the gathering.  After, I'll record what happened.  Other than that, I set some goals for tomorrow to help me get a few things done and feel like I accomplished something.  Thanksgiving is supposed to be a festive time, and I think tomorrow will be all right.  We'll see.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Had a Good Day

I started the day reviewing My Experiences with my known activities in mind, just like the morning reminder suggests.  I think that helped me prepare for the morning and afternoon.  I had a couple of meetings that went well, and actually got plenty of stuff done.  I reviewed my goals at mid-day, and adjusted my activities a bit to make sure I got the important stuff done.  This evening I made some good progress on the next update to Mood Sentry.  When I started this blog entry, I titled it "Had an OK Day" but changed the title as I wrote this to what it is now.  I guess looking back on my day and seeing that I actually got plenty of things done helped me feel better about how today actually went.  Getting ready for tomorrow before turning in.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Had an OK Day Today

My day went OK, maybe even pretty well.  I nailed all the goals I set for myself, though they all didn't require completion to achieve the goal.  I had thoughts pop up throughout the day but was able to handle them and the associated feelings.  I still had a low level of stress/anxiety to deal with, mostly due to forecasting my typical conflict and doom scenarios.  I think what really helped me was getting some stuff done early in the day as well as coming in yesterday and knocking out some status reporting activities.  I updated my goals for Tuesday and feel fairly well prepared for tomorrow.  We'll se how things go.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Had a Pretty Good Sunday

I hit most of my goals for today, and the stuff I didn't get to was not that important.  I did go into work today and took care of some items that will make room for any pop-up items tomorrow.  I also set some goals for tomorrow, which got me thinking about what might come up and helped me prepare for those potential items.  I have two things on my to-do list that may end up competing with each other, which can drive anxiety in a mind like mine.  If, in the unlikely event I find that these two tasks are competing for my attention, I believe I will be able to deal with the situation.  Because I worked today, there will be little else competing for my time tomorrow other than these two tasks.  We'll see.  So, I have goals set, I've thought about what thoughts might come up tomorrow, and thought about how I might mitigate those thoughts.  I think I'm ready to turn in.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Setting Goals Worked Fairly Well Today

I didn't get to all my goals, in particular the work related goal, but that's OK.  I can knock that one off tomorrow.  I did get a lot done on the app, and should have a new version coming out before the end of the year.  That will mostly have mild formatting changes and possibly a new tool.  I'll talk about the potential new tool in later posts to see if I can generate some feedback.  Other than that, I got in some exercise and some reading, which helps me relax and I find helps me manage my mood a bit better.  It was a good day.  I'll set some goals for tomorrow and see how I do.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Setting Goals on Weekends

I find that setting goals on weekends helps me manage my moods better.  The goals on weekends are usually different than the goals on weekdays, mainly because I usually don't have work related goals on the weekends.  This weekend is a bit different, as I gave myself a work goal for tomorrow.  My typical weekend goals often involve catching up on reading, hiking, and working on this app.  Setting goals like this on weekends helps me defeat feelings of lethargy.  Sometimes I get like that and need a little boost.  Having a goal, usually a simple one, that I can attack can often get me over that initial hump of do nothingness.  Something I like to keep in mind.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

The Journaling Tools

I have multiple tools in the Journaling Tools section, all offering different formats for, you guessed it, Journaling.  Why all the formats?  Well, I find that the different formats help when trying to figure out what thoughts are really driving my mood.  Often, when I try to capture a thought of interest I'll use a couple of different formats in the beginning.  As I work to capture the gist of the thought, I usually find one tool becoming more dominant.  I have no idea why one format may better capture a thought than another format, but that's my experience.  Try it for yourself and see if you have the same experience.  Drop me a line and let me know.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

The Prioritization Tool

The Prioritization tool is the tool I'm a little uncomfortable with because it just seems too simple for a complex task like prioritization.  Prioritizing activities based on time seems too simple because there are often many reasons to consider one task more important than another.  However, in practice, I've had good luck using the Prioritization tool.  I typically revert to this tool during times of high workload, such as when working on a report that is due or a proposal response.  I use the tool mostly for guidance when prioritizing tasks and find that it helps far more often than not.  I always reserve the option of overriding the tool's guidance because there may be a reason to do so.  For example, even though something is due weeks away the amount of work required for that activity may drive its priority higher.  The tool works pretty well, but I still feel funny publishing it because it seems too simple.  Have you tried it?  How did it work for you?

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Using the Reminders

I tend to use all three reminders.  If you read the examples, you'll see that they are somewhat involved.  These evolved over time.  The morning reminder used to just tell me to think about my day and review My Experiences while the mid-day reminder asked me "what has gone well today."  That's how they started.  As time went by I added to each reminder until they became what you see in the example.  If you're thinking about using the reminders, start simple.  What would you like to tell yourself?  Starting with something simple that addresses your particular needs is probably a good way to start using the Reminders function.  If you're not sure where to begin, talk about it with your therapist.  See what they think.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Caught Stuff Early Today

I had some anxiety throughout the day.  There are lots of little thoughts that can drive my mood on Mondays, such as forecasting that my project data will show the project is out of control or that the interactions I expect throughout the day will end up being confrontational and me not handling it well.  Fortunately, I have a lot of experience with these thoughts and have counter thoughts.  For example, regarding the project data, I track the data weekly and stay on top of the project's activities throughout the week.  Because of this, things don't get out of hand suddenly, so there's really nothing to worry about on Monday.  Regarding the interactions, they rarely turn confrontational and on the rare occurrence when they do, I tend to handle it well.  Thus, I'm anxious over a remote possibility.  These counter thoughts help, and having things like this on the phone that I can reference is why I created Mood Sentry.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Felt a bit Anxious Today

I was feeling a bit anxious today, partly because I had a large list of things I wanted to get done today.  When I realized part of my anxiety was due to this list, I thought about which items on that list I really needed to get done today.  It turned out that I didn't really need to get any of those items done today, I just wanted to get them done.  That realization helped me scope my efforts down a bit.  I focused on the stuff that needed the most continuous time, because I had lots of time to devote today.  The result was that I focused on the next app updates because having a few hours to work on nothing but the app usually results in a lot of work getting done.  Working on the app is not something I can simply put down and then pick back up where I left off.  Because of this, I tend to do most of my heavy programming on weekends.  Beyond the app work, I completed more of the other tasks than I thought I would, so the day ended pretty well.  Tomorrow is Monday, so I prepared some goals and thought about how I'd like the day to go.  I find preparing for Monday helps me have a better day.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Custom Entries

When I talk about custom entries, I'm talking about customized My Experiences, Reminders, Prioritizations, as well as new entries in the tools such as Observations and Ideal Self.  These are the entries that the user makes to tailor the tool to themselves or record what's going on in their life.  For me, these custom entries are rarely a one shot deal.  I often iterate over a couple of weeks, thinking about the thoughts I'm trying to capture and trying to clearly capture what's going on in my head.  I think that as an exercise, creating these custom entires has helped me better understand my thoughts and their impact on my mood.  I think that's one of the real benefits of using a tool like Mood Sentry.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Using the Daily Goals

It's been a little while since I have addressed this.  I've thought about adding additional lines to the "Accomplish" list, taking it from 3 lines to 5.  I decided not to do that for a couple of reasons.  First, I figured that three would be succinct and enough for at least a half the day.  The idea is to only put down the important things you don't want to fall off your plate.  You can always update the list at lunch time, or any time during the day if you think you have more stuff you need to accomplish.  Second, you can put more than one item on a line.  That's what I tend to do.  I'll lump two or three items that are related on the same line.  I tend to only use one or two words to identify each goal, so I can squeeze more than one goal on a line.  I started doing that last year and have been doing it ever since.  So, between being able to revisit and update the list as things are completed, and entering more than one task on each line, I decided to keep the interface as is with just three lines.  Hope it's working for you.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Still Working on the Stress

I'm still working on this low level stress.  I got some help on one of the projects I'm having a tough time with, and that was a good thing.  Getting help can challenge thoughts of not being able to do something because, well, after one gets help one often knows how to do that something.  Challenging those thoughts helped reduce my stress level.

I also found the time to review some of my entries this evening.  I mostly reviewed some Cost Benefit analyses I have stored on my phone.  That is one of the least used tools I have, however, reviewing what I have was interesting and actually applied to some of my thought situations today.  I was in meetings for most of the day and found my thoughts wandering anywhere but on the topic at hand.  I have a Cost Benefit analysis related to day dreaming.  Having stuff like that on the phone is why I created Mood Sentry.  Too bad I didn't review it earlier in the day when I could have used it.  Sometimes I have to make the time to address my thoughts.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Had a Pretty Good Day Today

I hit most of my goals today, and didn't have a whole lot of anxiety to deal with.  I think one of my issues has to do with some uncertainty regarding the project on which I'm working.  Today I was able to reduce some of that uncertainty, which helped.  Tomorrow I have a good chance at reducing some more uncertainty on yet another project, and that should help too.  Beyond work, I got a lot of stuff done at home this evening while working on Mood Sentry.  I'll have an update in the next month or so, which will mostly be structural but may include one more thriving tool.  We'll see as the month progresses.  I made good use of Mood Sentry today, mostly setting daily goals and reviewing My Experiences.  I didn't review as many of my custom entries as I usually do, but I think I'll change that tomorrow.  We'll see.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Was Feeling Anxious this Morning

I get that feeling when I return to work a lot.  I made good use of Mood Sentry to combat those feelings, mostly driven by forecasts of conflict at work, which rarely ever happens.  I also set several goals to help me focus on the things I really needed to get done.  The funny thing was I nailed most of those goals by 9:30 this morning (I get to work around 6:30 am).  What did I do?  I added to the list a few more things that would be nice to get done today, and ended up getting those done too.  I still had the anxious feeling throughout the day, but it subsided a bit as the day wore on because I kept addressing the thoughts that seemed to be driving it.  Looking back, I got a lot of stuff done at work.  I have a couple of more things to do at home and will get on them before turning in.  Today ended up being a pretty good day.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

A Better Day Today

I set some goals for today, which was a vacation day for me.  I hit most of them.  The ones I didn't do were actually replaced by other things I did do.  I just didn't update the list when I decided to pursue other needs.  That's one way Mood Sentry helps me, as I stated the other day.  Setting some goals helps defeat feelings of being overwhelmed.  Something I need to keep in mind a more more often than I do.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

An OK Day

I barely used Mood Sentry today.  I just started the day off working on the computer, took a break to kayak and read, and then got back to working on the computer.  Some of the work was related to Mood Sentry.  I did review the evening reminder and think it was good I did.  I was feeling a bit stressed because I didn't get to all the things I had in mind.  Reflecting back on my day made me realize that I got a lot of stuff done, which is good.  This emphasizes one of the reasons I have the Daily Goals tool.  That reason is because the tool lets me define a realistic set of goals for the day as well as helps me focus my time.  When I rely on my mind like I did today, I often get this feeling that I'm not getting enough done, which is rarely the case.  I took tomorrow off and will set some goals to help me focus my efforts and defeat thoughts (and the associated feelings) that I'm not getting anything done.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

one of Those Days

I had one of those days that starts with me not feeling like doing anything.  I planned to hike this morning, but just didn't feel like it.  This led to motivation via should statements, which as we know really are not motivating.  I managed to get myself going by remembering an entry in which I recorded that just getting started often makes me feel better.  On the drive to the trailhead I did start to feel better and felt pretty good by the time I parked the car.  Not bad.  I had a pretty good after that.

Made Good Use of Mood Sentry Today

I made good use of Mood Sentry today, setting goals (which I did this morning), reviewing My Experiences in the morning and again at lunch time, and finally reflecting back on my day and setting some goals for tomorrow.  Things are a little stressful for me work partly due to a project I'm working that's kind of nebulous and partly due to uncertainty surrounding another project I'm waiting to begin working on.  Using Mood Sentry both in the morning and again at lunch time helped me get my thoughts in check.  My goals for tomorrow are fairly simple, hike, read, work on updates to Mood Sentry and perhaps another app, and maybe go out for dinner with my wife.  We'll see about that last one.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

The Tools I use Most

The tools I use most are the Essays and Observations tools in the Journaling Tools section.  I'm pushing 20 entries in each of these tools.  I have a limit of 30 entries in addition to the Overview and Example in the tools that allow the user to add entries.  I came up with that limit because I thought scrolling through more would not be effective on a phone.  I'm now thinking 30 might be excessive, but I'll keep it at that level just in case someone is pushing the limit.  I think I like these two tools because of the free form nature of each.  That just seems to mesh with the way I think.  Regarding the other tools, I do use them and have custom entries in each.  How are these tools working for you?  Does having the ability to record your thoughts, wherever you are, help you better manage your mood?

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Using the Hints

How are the hints helping?  I through a bunch of hints pages in Mood Sentry to make it easy to learn how I use this app.  On Android, the hints are accessed via the Options Menu.  On the iPhone, they are always at the bottom of the page.  I used to have the same hints for many of the tools, because they function in essentially the same manner.  However, I started to lightly customize many of the hints to better reflect how that tool operates.  For example, the Observation Log and Ideal Self tools function in a very similar manner and used to have the same hints, but now there is some mild customization.  Consider dropping me a line and letting me know how the hints are working, and if there's something I can do to make them better.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Where to Begin

If you're new to Mood Sentry and don't know where to begin, consider starting with the Reminders or My Experiences.  These are essentially the first two tool sets I created, which I based on a couple of reminders I used on my work computer.  I had this morning reminder that popped up at 6:30am and told me what thoughts to look out for during my day.  It was about a page of verbiage that I would read in the morning to pro-actively manage my mood.  I had two versions of the write-up and used one on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and the other on Tuesday and Thursday.  I found that reading these at the start of the day while thinking about how my day would unfold helped me manage the thoughts that were most likely to come up.  For an app that runs on a phone, I splitting the write-ups into My Experiences and Reminders.  Check them out and see what you think.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Had an OK Monday

I think I need to work on getting a good night's sleep.  This has come up before, but I think it needs repeating.  Getting a good night's sleep really helps me manage my thoughts and mood.  Today was OK, mostly because I had an OK night's sleep.  I was kind of tired at work which I think can drive thoughts in a similar manner as emotional reasoning.  I mentioned that I set some goals last night (for today), and I hit just about all those goals.  The one I missed was due to a mis-calculation on my part in regards to what I needed to do.  Suffice to say that I learned from that mistake, which made the planned goal moot.  I did work Mood Sentry this morning, reviewing My Experiences and some other entries, and I think that helped get me started down the right path.  But the sleepiness crept in and messed with my day a bit.  I'll see if I can get a better night's sleep tonight and hopefully have a better day tomorrow.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Time Change - Android and more...

Note to Android users: the way I have Mood Sentry's reminders set up does not allow automatic adjustment of the reminder times when we change our clocks.  Recognizing when the time changes was not built into older version of Android.  I'm not sure if it's built into newer versions either.  The easiest thing to do is cycle the reminder off and then back to on, assuming you had the reminder on to begin with.  Sorry for any inconvenience.  I'll look into this again and see if I can fix this bug.

Other than that, I had a fairly busy weekend working on coding updates.  I've changed how the app is built, which should have zero impact on the user.  I'm thinking of some other changes too, nothing drastic, just nit-picky things that I want to change.  I'll look into the time change issue on android and see if newer versions make this easy.  Also, I'm thinking of adding one more tool.  The idea is to document "who I am."  I'll play with the concept to see if I like it before releasing it in any update.

Other than that stuff, I set some goals for tomorrow after reviewing my evening reminder.  I should be set for Monday.  We'll see.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

No Goals Set for Today

I just realized that I did not set any Daily Goals for today, yet I got a lot of stuff done.  I've been working on the next update to Mood Sentry which will most probably be minor in terms of user experience, but fairly significant in terms of programming structure.  I had such a clear vision in my head regarding what I wanted to accomplish that I did not need to set any goals.  I completed everything I wanted to complete late this afternoon.  My day included a short hike in the morning followed by programming, then a reading break at a local coffee shop, followed by a lot more programming.  Even though I didn't set any goals for today I think it is a good practice to set some goals just to serve as a reference and motivator.  I'll set some goals for tomorrow and turn in.  Tonight we get that hour we gave up in the spring for daylight savings time.  I'm not a big daylight savings time fan, and appreciate getting this hour back.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

How's Mood Sentry Working For You?

Just checking.  How is Mood Sentry working for you?  Were/are you able to figure out how to use it?  Do you find the Hints function useful?  I based the features and tools on things I've done to better manage my mood.  Have you used similar tools?  Are there any features you think I should add?  One of the things I had to do was consider how the tools would look and function on a small format screen like a phone.  In Dr. Burns' book "Feeling Good" there are multicolumn techniques for dealing with our thoughts.  I have not implemented any multi-column tools on the app because I just don't think it will work on a phone.  If I ever transition Mood Sentry to a tablet, perhaps I will start adding such tools.     Think about tools and features you think might be good to have on Mood Sentry.  Perhaps they will make it into a future update.  Let me know.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

That Feeling has Lifted

That feeling I described earlier this week of pending doom has lifted somewhat.  I'm not sure if it has been due to some small successes I've had this week or something else, but it's lifted a bit.  Perhaps it's a combination of things, such as the successes, better sleep, and really working Mood Sentry in the morning to get my day going.  I still have my typical feelings of stress and anxiety, but I can manage those and am functioning pretty well.  Today was a descent day mostly because I got some help I needed on a project I'm struggling with.  I set some goals for tomorrow and will turn in for a good night's sleep.  I'm ending today with the thought that tomorrow will be pretty good.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Have you Tried Customizing My Experiences?

Every now and then I post a questions like this to the use community.  I'm curious if anyone has tried customizing My Experiences for their self.  The reason I created that tool was to help myself gain a better understanding of the concept of Cognitive Distortions.  The examples on the web and in Dr. Burns' book Feeling Good were helpful, but really didn't capture my thoughts.  Thus, I created my own and tailored them over and over.  I found this exercise helpful and am curious if anyone else has tried and if so, did it help?

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Getting Better

My day started off where I left off yesterday, but improved significantly by lunch time.  I'm not sure what really drove the improvement.  I briefly reviewed My Experiences in the morning, I re-checked my goals, and I looked over one of my entries related to this feeling of doom that can overcome me.  I made some good progress on one of my activities, which helped.  I got some other stuff done too, but I really don't think I made and significant progress, just incremental.  I did recognize that I was feeling less stressful by lunch, which I think is good.  Checking my goals, I hit most of them, and modified a couple of the others, for a fairly productive day.  I'll set some goals for tomorrow and see if I can get another good night's rest.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Having a Tough Time Today

I have this general feeling of depression that I can't seem to shake today.  I know I didn't sleep well last night, and was feeling a bit under the weather, but those usually don't make me feel like this.  Things are going fine at work and at home.  I have some little challenges, but nothing overwhelming.  But I just have this feeling that things are bad.  I'm looking through all the entries I have trying to see if there is something that can help.  I'm getting some relief, but not much.  This may be one of those times I have to let this thing run its course.  I just found an entry related to feeling like this, with nothing apparent driving it.  Unfortunately, that's about all there is to this entry.  I'm going to work on this a bit before turning in.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Little Challenges Today

For some reason I had these little challenges today.  It started with Quicken this morning, when I was updating my banking information.  Things didn't import into one of my accounts like they should have and then I noticed that an imported transaction from a couple of weeks ago did not import correctly followed by another similar discovery.  I started thinking that I'd never get my finances updated.  I caught this one fairly quickly and countered with something like "of course I'll my finances updated, it'll just take a bit longer than planned."  The "of course" lead-in actually helps me.  I had another challenge related to forecasts of conflict regarding a class I took this afternoon and a meeting I attended this evening.  Those I countered by imagining things going well and telling myself that classes and meetings are traditionally fairly neutral.  Finally, with so many things going on I had this feeling that I wouldn't get enough done today.  Well, looking back on my day (per my evening reminder) I actually got a lot done.  I have entries in Mood Sentry related to all these thoughts, which came in handy today.  Time to set some goals for tomorrow and turn in.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Had a Good Day

I set several goals last night and only hit about half of them today, but it was still a really good day.  I spent a chunk of the day programming for both Android and iPhone apps.  I'm re-organizing the source code for Mood Sentry on both platforms to facilitate maintenance and re-use.  I've been working toward this for the past year, and over the next couple of weeks I'll be trying to work out the final touches on the code.  As I worked on this today I let the effort drive my activities.  As such, I diverged from the original goals I set last night.  I really did get a lot done today, just not what I originally planned.  That's something to keep in mind.  Setting goals helps keep me focused, but isn't the measure of how well I do on any given day.  Some days, just getting one thing done is good enough.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Hit Most of my Goals Today

It was a pretty good day today.  I hit most of my goals, and the one I didn't hit was really a stretch goal and important.  Regarding managing my thoughts, I did OK.  I had a low level of anxiety that was driven partly by some forecasts I had regarding a request for information.  Being me, I figured the information would be bad.  I caught myself thinking like that and tried some counter thoughts such as the information could be good, but would most probably be neutral.  That helped lessen my feelings but didn't eliminate them.  The information was in-fact neutral.  There really weren't any other pressing items on my agenda for the day other than some stuff related to the Android version of Mood Sentry.  I"m working on some updates to the code that should have little if any impact on the user experience, but are a bit complex and thus anxiety provoking.  Again, the feelings are driven by forecasts that things won't work right and I'll never get the updates working or something along those lines.  Those thoughts tend to drive procrastination, but I overcame them and got what I really wanted to get done, done this evening.  So how am I ending my day?  I set some goals for tomorrow, mostly recreation related, I reviewed a few entries in Mood Sentry, and I did this.  Let's see how tomorrow goes.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Some Background on Mood Sentry

What drove me to develop Mood Sentry was a decision at my company to dis-allow access to Google Docs from behind the company's firewall. Prior to that decision I had been using Google Docs to capture and record my thoughts, mostly via a running journal.  I also used my e-mail client, Microsoft Outlook to remind me in the morning and at lunchtime to think about what distortions might come up and prepare for them (morning) and to look back on my day and recognize what has gone well (lunch). Once I lost access to Google docs, I had two choices regarding my journaling, one was to go back to my old method of using e-mail to capture my thoughts and then mail them to my home e-mail account and the other was to see if I could develop an app that provided the tools I need to capture my thoughts and develop counter measures to those thoughts.  At first I chose the e-mail option, but that rapidly grew old and I started developing Mood Sentry.  My Outlook reminders turned into My Experiences and Daily Reminders.  My journaling turned into several of the Journaling tools, such as Cost Benefit analysis and Observations.  It took a while to learn to program an app, but I persisted and finally got Mood Sentry working.  I originally had a free version that had limited functionality and was good for 30 days, but I pulled that from the market.  I pulled it when I dropped the price from 4.99 down to 1.99.  I may once again offer a free, limited capability version, but right now it's not in the pipeline.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Reviewing Past Entries

Because I've had Mood Sentry on my phone for a couple of years now, I have a lot of entries in the various tools in the app.  Every now and then I take the time to review the entries.  Not necessarily looking at specific entries related to a specific thought, but randomly selecting entries just to see what I wrote.  It's interesting to see how some things still apply and some don't.  I often delete the ones that no longer apply.  Another thing I do is edit for clarity.  Sometimes when I re-read these entries, I find grammar and spelling errors, and wording that's not quite clear.  Even though these are only for me and spelling and grammar do not count, I still take the time to edit the ones that can use some editing.  One other thing I may do is edit for accuracy.  Sometime what is written is clear, but on further reflection I find that it is not quite accurate.  I've noted here and there that creating entries in Mood Sentry is rarely a one shot deal for me.  I often will write and re-write my entries for clarity, grammar, and accuracy.  Persistent access is the main reason for having it on the phone.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Did Pretty Good with My Goals Today

I just checked my Daily Goals and  realized that I addressed them all and got more done to boot.  I've been making it a point to set some goals the night before to help me jump start my day and in the process I review the goals that are in the tool at that time.  That helps me see what I accomplished during the day, which is a nice by-product of this process.  Seeing what I accomplished before turning in for the night helps me generate a positive impression of the day.  That's a good thing, and it inspires me to set some goals for the following day.  When I set my goals, I just try to hit a couple of the more important things I need to do.  Also, as I've stated before (but it's been a while) I now list multiple items on each line of the accomplishments.  I debated adding more lines, but because the text boxes are long enough that I can enter multiple items on each line, I decided not to add more lines.  How are the Daily Goals working for you?

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Things Went OK Today

The day started off with a feeling of doom, that something bad was going to happen.  I came to a realization this morning that things rarely go bad all at once.  When things go bad they tend to do so over time, and thus there are often a few opportunities to catch things early and correct as necessary.  This realization helped reduce, but not eliminate my feeling of doom because I'm pretty good at keeping track of my progress and recognizing when things are starting to get off track.  Actually, a chunk of my Monday morning is spent reviewing progress and looking for problems.  This will make it into a counter thought entry I have for this feeling of doom.  As the day progressed I still had this feeling of anxiety and pending doom, but the intensity of the feeling was not that bad.  I had a therapist appointment this afternoon and talked a bit about what drives this feeling, which seems to be a core belief that I'm no good.  I've addressed that core belief in the app too, mainly be addressing the totality of the phrase and that being no good at everything is a near impossibility.  I felt better after seeing my therapist and getting the thoughts out in the open.

I set some goals for tomorrow and will try to get a good night's rest.  Let's see what tomorrow brings.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Did Things a Little Different This Evening

I was preparing for Monday, and what I did was set some Daily Goals first, before reviewing My Experiences.  I think this worked out pretty well.  Setting some Daily Goals got me thinking about what I would be working on tomorrow.  Mondays involve lots of status updates and presentation preparation.  This often leads to forecasts.  Setting the goals made it easier to assess what thoughts might pop up tomorrow and what mitigations to have at the ready.  I was also better able to identify some relevant journal entries that relate to Mondays.  If preparing for tomorrow is part of your evening routine, try setting some Daily Goals first, and then doing the rest of your routine.  See if it helps.  Good luck.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

References

We've had the same references for a while.  Two are related to the concept of Cognitive Distortions, and one is related to the concept of Resilience.  Have you checked them out?  What do you think of them?  You can probably guess that I like them.  The one at the top of the list is something I printed out a couple of years ago and have posted next to my desk at work.  It's handy, and I still review it every now and then.  The second down the list is similar to the first article.  The third is the one regarding resilience.  I like this last one because I think it complements the Thriving Tools.  Do you have any references you think I should consider and maybe include?  I'm interested in web based references, things that are not too long and will work on the small format of a phone.  Drop me line and let me know your thoughts.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Journaling vs. Thriving Tools

How are the tools working for you?  There's a lot right now, and I still rely on only a few of them.  I thought I'd be using several of the new tools, and have, but not as often as I had thought.  Anyway, I want to take a moment to talk about the differences between the journaling tools and the thriving tools.  The Journaling Tools I mostly use for capturing past events, experiences, and the like.  They tend to help me recognize what's been going on in my thoughts and the impact those thoughts have had.  The Thriving Tools are mostly geared toward upcoming things, such as events, tasks, or my daily activities. These are forward focused tools that are intended to help me perform better throughout the day.

So what do you think about having both tool sets?  Do you use both types of tools?  Are you like me, with a tendency to focus on just a few of the tools?  If so, which ones?

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

Tailoring My Experiences

It's been a while since I've posted about tailoring My Experiences.  I've left most of them as is, because what you see in the examples are what I was using at the time I created the database with those items.  However, over time I have modified a couple, just a bit.  When I modify them I usually delete the text that says "Example:".  That makes it easy for me to identify when I've modified an entry.  The system has two database fields for each manifestation and two for each mitigation.  One field is for the example text and the other field is for your customized text.  The way the logic works is like this: if the customized text field is blank, then the system displays the example text.  The result is that the system will usually show something.  Once takeaway is that once you customize the text, the system will show you your custom text.  I created this tool because I thought customizing each distortion to my own experiences would help be understand the concept of cognitive distortions, and I think it did.  I hope it does for you too.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.

How Did Things Go Today?

I just reviewed my Evening Reminder, and that's how it starts.  My objective with this is to get me to really reflect back on my day and see how things went.  Sometimes I get these thoughts that everything is going poorly, and reflecting back can help me realize that some, if not most, things were either neutral or good.  Today I made some progress on something I'm working on at my regular job, which is good.  Things at home are somewhat neutral.  And things related to Mood Sentry are a good to just below neutral.  I'm having a dickens of a time trying to get a new development tool working on the Android version.  I spent several hours this evening trying to get it to work, but have yet to succeed.  I'm handling this better than I used to handle things like this. I used to get very upset and would have a tough time putting something like this down for the evening.  I'd ruminate on the issue and not sleep very well.  I'm better at handling things like this now and will be able to put this issue down until I get home from work tomorrow.  Looking across everything I did today and how everything is going, I think things went pretty well today.

If you'd like to contribute one of your experiences, reminders, any tool entry or just your thoughts to possibly help others make better use of Mood Sentry, please consider e-mailing the item (or your thoughts) to 4theblog@moodappsllc.com. I'll protect your privacy and keep the source anonymous.

If your therapist would like to contact me with questions or suggestions, have him/her contact me at info@moodappsllc.com.