Got the Website Back Up

I'm one of those people who has a tough time when things don't go as I'd like.  When I started having issues with the website, www.moodsenty.com, I became very focused on that problem.  I had a tough time figuring out how to fix the problem and really couldn't think about anything else.  Sure there were cognitive distortions, such as this shouldn't have happened, this is the worst thing that can happen, or even that this makes me look unprofessional.  Should statements, magnifications, and mind reading as well as a label.  I could handle the thoughts OK, but I really had a tough time putting the issue down.  The worst part of the problem was that some fixes required an hour or more to correct, which meant all I could do was wait.  It's fixed now, in part due to the efforts of the GoDaddy team and a Google support person named Paul, who even though the problem wasn't on his end still contacted me every day with advice on what to ask the GoDaddy team when trying to fix this issue.  Having a support team like that I think helped me handle my thoughts better.  This is something I should probably record in Mood Sentry.  Think it'll be 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.

Building Up a Library of Entries

After using Mood Sentry for a couple of years, I found that I now have a library of entries in all the tools I use.  The best part is that when I review what I wrote I often find a couple of entries that relate to whatever issues I'm having at that time.  Tonight I found some entries related to forecasting and dealings with people, a couple of things that have been driving my moods over the past several weeks.  When this happens, I often take the time to revise, update, and/or clarify what I had written previously.  Entries I make in the tools were never intended to be static, one off, writings.  If I had intended that then they wouldn't be re-editable.  I find that reviewing and revising is a good way for me to get a better understanding of what thoughts are really driving my 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.

How is Mood Sentry Working For You?

I'm curious as to how Mood Sentry is working for you.  I developed it for myself, so it works fine for me.  I wish I could say that it cured my depression, but I can't.  All I can say is that it helps me manage my condition and I tend to use it daily.  Sometimes I get really busy at work and just don't make the time to use it, which is a shame because those times are often the times I need to use it most.  When I use it, I usually use it twice a day and sometimes 3 times a day.  I usually respond to the reminders and since I created them, I tend to follow what the example specifies.  I made the reminders and My Experiences entries customizable because I figured most users would not be like me and thus would need to create their own custom entries in those tools.  So, how's Mood Sentry working for you?  Have you made the effort to customize it to yourself?  Have you worked with your therapist to customize it?

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 Custom Entries - Out Loud

I was just reviewing some of my custom entries and decided to read them out loud.  There's nobody else in the house tonight, so I figured I would try this.  I think it helped drive the point of each entry home.  There was something about hearing myself speak the words that had more of an impact than simply reading the words.  Maybe it was the engagement of another sense, hearing, that helped.  I think I'll try this again sometime, when I have the house to myself.

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 Squishy Kind of Day

I have not idea why the word "squishy" came into my mind when thinking back on today, but it did.  I had some goals set for today, which is an especially good thing to do on a Monday.  However, little challenges kept popping up throughout my day.  These challenges would hamper my ability to keep my mood in check.  For example, I realized I am overspent on one of my projects, not just a little, but a lot.  I have a new opportunity to pursue, which is going to chew up a lot of my time this month and impede my ability to take vacation.  Also, this new opportunity requires a lot of interaction with people I don't really know and thus don't know how to behave around.  And finally, the new program that just started still doesn't have all its accounting charge lines open.  Each of these nudged me into anxiety/depression, a bit.  Together they made it very difficult to maintain a healthy mood.  So, what did I do?  I just kept working my program, challenging those thoughts I could as best I could.  Sometimes I would do OK, but mostly I found myself depressed and anxious.  I'm going to try getting a good night's sleep tonight.  It's been a while since I had such a sleep, but I think it will help. It usually does.  I'll set a couple of goals for tomorrow before I 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.

Still Working on the Website

This is consuming my thoughts, and getting in the way of addressing other things I'd like to address in regards to Mood Sentry, such as the next updates to the system and completing the documentation of the previous set up updates.  I'm frustrated, driven partially by should statements, such as this shouldn't have happened and the support team should be doing a better job of helping me.  I think there is some labeling going on, the label being "unprofessional" because a professional would have this resolved by now.  However, I know that "stuff" happens and the real test is how I respond.  I think I've done pretty well responding to this crisis.  Some things take a little while to update over the internet, so when I 'make changes to how I re-direct the domain to the website it can take up to 48 hours to have an effect.  I think I made the final fixes late this morning, so perhaps I'll see changes tomorrow.  Regarding the should statements and labels, I'll work on those tonight.

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 Trouble with the Mood Sentry Website

I'm having trouble with the Mood Sentry website.  I'm not sure what's going on and am battling distortions related to this (e.g. this will take all night to correct or I'll never get this fixed).  I can handle those thoughts fairly well, but it's a constant struggle.  I'll manage and perhaps will create a new Event Record to track this.  If you'd like to see our site, here's the long site name that still works...
https://sites.google.com/a/moodappsllc.com/mood-sentry1/

The www.moodsentry.com site really just points to this one and masks the name.

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.

I'm Back

My trip went well.  I made time to use mood sentry on the day of my big presentation.  I think it helped.  I reviewed My Experiences and then took a stab at an Event Prep entry.  The former helped get my mind ready for the day, the latter didn't do much in this instance.  Why?  Because when I recorded how meetings like the one I was attending typically go, I realzed they tend to go well.  Maybe that is just another way the Event Prep tool can help.  By getting me to realize that things typically go well.  I'll have to think about that.

Another OK Day

I'm pretty busy right now, getting ready for a trip tomorrow, returning on Wednesday night.  I have lots of little things to do to prepare.  I used the Daily Goals, and hit most of the goals I set this morning.  There were a few that I didn't accomplish, but that's OK because there were multiple things not on the list that I did accomplish, and bouncing them all against the prioritization scheme revealed that they were more important than the things I did not get to.  I may not have the opportunity to post for the next couple of days due to travel.  I'll try to check my e-mail, so if there are any issues you have that need attention, please consider using the Contact Us page and submitting a question.

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.

Didn't Hit Many Goals Today

So, I didn't hit many of the goals I set today, but I still feel like I got a lot of things done, and looking back on the day, I did.  I guess I just redirected my energies in real-time, and thus the things I got done were needed.  I'm glad I took the time to set some goals, because many of them will carry over to tomorrow and I'll get them done then.  No biggie.  Setting goals is a really good exercise in itself and helps me defeat feelings of lethargy.  I think I may post a bit more about setting goals later this week, if I remember.  Perhaps I should set a goal to do so.  Hmmmm.

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.

I'm Doing OK These Days

I don't think I can owe it all to Mood Sentry, but I definitely feel that using it every morning and then later in the day is helping.  Work is a bit hectic, with preparations for a major meeting at which we will present next week, but setting goals and checking the prioritization scheme really helps.  Doing it the night before helps me sleep a bit better, and checking/updating the goals in the morning helps even more.  I've been reviewing some of my Tools entries, but mostly I focus on the My Experiences tool and think about how my thoughts might drift based on previous experience.  Thinking about what might come up later in the day is a good thing for me to do.   For me, mitigating those thoughts really does start in the morning.

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 Day Like Yesterday

Had another day like yesterday.  I've been really busy at work, but making the time to use Mood Sentry in the morning and again at lunch which really helps me keep my thoughts straight.  Today had a lot of little things pop up, but I was able to focus on "good enough" rather than "really good" which helped me keep a decent throughput up.  Things went well today, which is something that I need to stop and think about.  Things typically do go well, so why do I worry so much?  I'll keep working on this.  Other than that, I set some goals for tomorrow which usually helps during hectic times like this.

Regarding the app, I've been working on some updates to the android version.  Mostly getting rid of "deprecated" methods, which are methods that still work just fine, but the developers of android would prefer we stop using.  I have most of them out and the app seems to function as it should.  I'll think about other things for this next update, and am open to suggestions.

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.

Another Better Day

Things are getting better at work, which tends to be the pattern when I really look back at past history.  For some reason, pop-up issues can really knock me off my axis.  I think that's what happened on Monday, which set my mood for the rest of the day.  I know that if I keep working issues as they pop up, I more often than not resolve them.  I can forget that in the heat of the crisis.  I have entries related to this I believe, and will look for them this evening.  Other than that, I made sure I made the time to use Mood Sentry this morning and again at lunch time, which I believe helped keep me in a decent mood 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.

Had a Better Day Today

Made the time to use Mood Sentry today and had a better day.  However, things at work today went better than yesterday, and actually improved a bit, which had a bit to do with my day being better.  Setting the time aside this morning to review my experiences helped put me on the right footing at the start of the day.  I was able to identify some of the distortinons that were likely to come up and develop counter thoughts.  For example, should statements and personalization have been coming up recently.  I identified how each might manifest and developed some more neutral counter thoughts.  This preparation combined with a slightly improved work situation and resulted in a better day.

Had a Rough Day Today

Multiple fires popped up first thing in the morning today.  I know I said I'd use Mood Sentry first thing this morning, but that just didn't happen.  The urgent matters needed to be addressed.  The funny thing is that I caught myself getting really stressed due to someone else's problem and recognized this as a personalization issue.  Recognizing that there was some personalization going on helped alleviate some of the stress, but not all of it.  Still, I thought it was pretty cool that I recognized a distortion in real-time and was able to mitigate it to some effect.  I guess that's one of the reasons I try to use Mood Sentry every day, so that my mitigations can become rote.

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 Ready for Tomorrow

Today was OK.  I set some goals and hit most of them and did some stuff not on the list.  Thought about going in to work today just to tag up on a couple of items, but decided not to do that and challenge those thoughts related to not having enough time at work to do all I need to do, or finding myself overwhelmed by pop-up tasks.  We'll see how tomorrow goes.  I've set some goals for myself for tomorrow, and think I can get them done.  I have my prioritization matrix to reference if too many things come up at once, which has helped in the past.  I'll make sure to Mood Sentry in the morning and get my day started on the right track.

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 Funky Day

Today started out pretty well, with a hike to the local foothills.  On my return I relaxed and worked on the next update to the Android version of Mood Sentry.  Then a movie and now the ER.  My mother in law fell and hit her head.  She'll be OK.  Lots of waiting, so I took the time to review multiple tools and entries in Mood Sentry.  There were multiple times when distortd thoughts crept into mt head today.  I think most of them were should statements.  I didn't realize that should statements were so prevalent in my thoughts.  I think I managed to handled most of them pretty well.  i'll keep an eye on them and see if those statements taper off.

Both Android and iPhone Updates Have Been Released

The updates are finally out the door and should be available in the next couple of hours.  So what's new?  There were extensive changes to the architectures of both the Android and iPhone versions, which was one reason the changes took so long to release.  I needed to do some extra testing to make sure I didn't mess things up.

Other than that, on the iPhone there are changes to the interface to make it more user friendly. For example, the drop down selection menus (such as in My Experiences) used to cover the drop down bar, they no longer do.  The hints on the iPhone are now placed so that the "done" button is near the bottom of the screen, which is closer to the hints button and thus where your finger is.  There was a bug fix or two on the iPhone too.

On Android, I changed the hints feature to a different type of view.  Rather than a full window that takes up the whole screen, it's now an alert view which takes up a little less screen space.  I did a lot of clean up in the Android code, and still have more to go.  I replaced some "deprecated" functions with newer versions and set a flag so that only one instance of the app will be running.  The effect is that if the app is running when a reminder is set to go, the app will jump to the home page rather than launch a new instance of the app.  This isn't the best way to handle this situation and I may modify this behavior a bit in the next release.

If I did things right, neither iPhone nor Android users will notice any issues.  Please use the contact us page or this blog to report any bugs.  I think I did enough testing, but who knows.  There's always something lurking in the depths of the software.

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.

What do You Think of the References

Have you checked out the References?  If not, check them out sometime and see what you think.  I added them because I used to use the app at a local Starbucks and didn't want to carry a copy of Feeling Good where ever I went.  The first item on the list is an About.com article I have posted to my wall at work.  I think it's a pretty good reference for Cognitive Distortions.  The second is just an alternate take on the topic of CDs, and I find that sometimes a slightly different take helps me understand a new concept better.  That's why I included that.  The third is an article on Resilience, which I found somewhat inspiring.  The last two references are for this Blog and contacting us.  Do you find having these references on your phone helpful?  I do, which is why they are part of the app.  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.

Didn't Use Mood Sentry until this Evening

I didn't use Mood Sentry until this evening.  I kept thinking about picking up my phone and reading through some entries during my day, but I was so focused on completing a major task I've been working on that I just didn't make the time.  That's my excuse for work, but when I got home I didn't use it either until this evening.  Why?  I think I was just too tired.  I had a lot going on at work over the past two days and now that this one thing is just about finished (I need to sign off on it tomorrow, which isn't a big deal) I think my need to rest is catching up.  I'm glad I made the time to use Mood Sentry this evening.  It helped me recognize some of my stressors as well as prepare for tomorrow.  I still have a lot going on at work, but getting this one thing off my plate will make work a bit more manageable.

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.

Submitted iPhone Update

I submitted the iPhone version for review.  This update will have improvements to the user interface such as better placement of pop up views.  There are a couple of bug fixes, such as the look of the time picker views.  There are also multiple changes to the structure of the software to enhance reusing the software.  These last changes should be invisible to the user.  If all goes well the iPhone update should be available in about a week.

I've Really Been Focused on Negatives Today

I'm struggling today, and seem to be focused on negative items.  I keep pushing my thoughts to the positive things in my life, but I keep drifting back to the negatives and sinking into a funk.  I'm just kind of porpoising in and out of a depressed mood.  I have at least one entry that helps, it's an Observation I named "Thankfuls" and lists several things in my life for which I am thankful.  However, I think a new entry called something like "What's Good" might be in order, in which I list things that are good.  I'm not sure this will help much, but it's worth a try.  Gotta get ready for Monday.  I have lots of things to do and am anticipating a hectic day.  Perhaps I'm forecasting a bit too much.  Hmmm.

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.

Made the Time for Mood Sentry Today

I made the time to use Mood Sentry today.  I only worked a half day, but as I indicated yesterday I used the Prioritization Tool to help me identify which tasks to focus on.  It helped me when I set my goals for today and I'm happy to report that I hit most of my goals.  I'm a little under the weather with some sort of sinus issue, which has impacted my sleep and thus made it difficult to work on the final updates to the next version of Mood Sentry.  There won't be any new features, just some clean up in the interface and a major change to the code structure (which you will not notice).  I'm glad I made the time for Mood Sentry this morning and will endeavor to do so again tomorrow.  I need to  get some 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.

Didn't Use Mood Sentry Until this Evening

I had a hike to lead this morning and did not make the time to use Mood Sentry until this evening.  Sometimes this happens, this being not using Mood Sentry until later in the day.  In spite of this I did OK today.  The hike went well though I was a bit frazzled due to being in contact with people for an extended period of time.  I really do need time to myself.  I had some challenges with forecasts of the time required to do the things I needed (or wanted) to do after the hike, but I did OK handling those and accomplished most of those things.  To handle the forecasts I reflected back on similar activities and noted that each didn't take an exceptional amount of time to complete.  This evening when I made the time to use Mood Sentry I thought about my day while reviewing My Experiences and then a couple of Auto Thoughts entries.  I'm currently trying to get a handle on tomorrow's activities.  I took the day off, but will need to go into work for a half day.  I'm having a tough time figuring out on what to work.  I think I'll use the prioritization matrix and see if that helps.

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.