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.