Knocking stuff off the Daily Goals list...

Can really help me defeat thoughts on not getting anything done.  I can look at the list at the end of the day, and see multiple things that I've accomplished.  This helps defeat those feelings of not getting anything done during a given day.

3 or 5?

So, any thoughts on if you'd like to see more items on the daily goals Accomplish these list?  I have three.  My intention was to keep it short so I can focus on only a couple of things.  If I accomplish something and I have time to add another, I can always do that.  Having too many items on a list can be detrimental to productivity.  Focusing on things that I can complete and get of my mind is good, and limiting the list to just a few items can really help in that manner.  However, right now I have lots of things vying for my attention, and I can't simply put some off.  Hmmmm.  I'm tempted to kick the list up to 5, but I do like keeping it short and focused on a few key items.  Thoughts?

New Tool Suggestions?

If you have an idea for a tool you'd like to see in the tool, drop me a line via the support page.  I have a couple of ideas I'll be working on in the next month or so, and I'll post more on them later.  In the meantime, think about what you'd like to see in this tool and drop me a line.

My Healthy Eating Ideal Self

Here's one I've been working on.  It's an Ideal Self entry focused on eating healthy...
I will seek out healthy items, focusing on whole foods.
One benefit is better health.
Another is better endurance when hiking.
Think about eating fresh, lean, and healthy, and visualize myself doing it.  Think about some healthy food items and "see" them on a plate.  Imagine myself selecting a healthy item and eating it.
Recognize that I'm attracted to high cal foods due to their sugar, fat, and/or salt content.
Recognize that this attraction is probably genetic and good in times of feast or famine, and thus not bad but beautiful.
Buy healthy items for house, make my own lunch most of the time, eat in more than eat out.

How's that?

Tools - random thoughts

I've covered all the tools that are part of Mood Sentry over the past few posts.  These tools were mostly based on things I did for myself and transferred to the phone.  They are handy for helping me capture the gist of my thoughts, and because they are on the phone I can access them just about any time I need to.  There's extra capability that I put in there that I didn't cover, such as being able to change the entry name.  Check out the hints and option on the menu to learn more.  I've stated this before and will continue to do so, making entries for me is never a one shot deal.  I tend to "rough out" the idea with nouns and verbs, then revisit the entry over the next few days or even weeks, thinking about what happened and the ensuing thoughts, and then modifying my write-up.  Sometime things bubbly up over time, sometimes a similar event gives me new insight to the thoughts, whatever, I just keep refining the descriptions and with every refinement I get to know myself a bit better.  I sincerely hope the tools help you too.  Best of wishes in you journey.  Now I get to stress on what to blog about tomorrow.

Mood Sentry Tools - Ideal Self

This was the last, but probably not the final tool I added to Mood Sentry.  I wanted to capture my ideal self to help keep myself focused on where I want to go, as opposed to where I am or where I was.  Sometimes when I'm in a funk I can get so focused on the present and the past that I feel stuck in the feeling.  Documenting what I'm trying to achieve has been good for me and is a good thing to review because it helps me focus on the future.  I have no idea why I have provisions for up to 5 in the free version or 30 in the paid version, because it doesn't seem like you really need that many end states.  However, it was easier to program that way.  Right now I have 3 "Ideal Self" entries, the example, one related to treating other people well, and one related to healthy eating.  That last one I put in there after the holidays.  I kept the format of the ideal self fairly free form.  I originally was going to make a form with specific items, but different people with different goals might find such a form too stifling.  Try it out and see what you think.

Tools - Prioritization

OK, so the idea for this tool came from a book I read on dealing with Asperger titled "Living Well on the Spectrum" by Dr. Valerie L Gaus.  It seems that sometimes people on the spectrum have difficulty prioritizing things and may look at all the things they need to do as being equally important.  This has led to feelings of being overwhelmed in my case, so I tried to create a prioritization scheme for myself.  I'm a bit embarrassed to say that according to the scale I created, the vast majority of the items on my plate are simply not that important.  So why the stress?  The schemes for both home and work have actually helped me a bit to reduce anxiety and stress.  I have no idea if they will work for anyone else, and I know there's more tweaking I can do to these, but I leave them alone because they are "good enough" for now.

Tools - Cost Benefit Analysis

The cost benefit analysis is a handy tool, actually, I think all the included tools are handy.  I use this tool just to get a different perspective on a thought pattern.  My tendency is to keep things fairly terse, which you can see in the example.  Because the Costs box is labeled "Costs," I don't put the word "costs" in the write up.  Similar for Benefits.  I use this tool infrequently, but I find it useful when I do.  What do you think?

Tools - Essays

I know that essays sounds like something that will be graded, but it's not.  I like the free form nature of essays.  This is almost a catchall tool.  Essays can be a really good way to bounce ideas around to capture the gist of your (or my) thoughts.  Don't let the name scare you.

Tools - Observations

I like this tool.  I like recording things to observe and capture thoughts and observations that challenge those thoughts.  The example I think captures how I use this tool.  I'm glad to say that it's a been a while since I've been in a deep funk like the example observation.  I think attacking my thoughts helps.  It's not that I don't ever wake up feeling lethargic, it's just that I now do a pretty good job keeping those feelings and thoughts from building on themselves and keeping the feeling going.  I have several other observations in my list.  Sometimes when I get away from the office and go to a coffee shop, I like to review my observations, think about them, and update them if needed.

Tools - Event Record

This was one of my first tools.  I just wanted something that I could use to document any events that really get my mood going, or really get my thoughts running.  Having this tool on the phone lets me capture the gist of the event fairly closely to when it actually happens.  If you look at the example you can see what I mean when I just try to capture the gist.  It reads kind of choppy.  I use it as a memory jogger.  When this event happened I found myself ruminating on the dripping shower instead of going to sleep.  Just getting up and jotting down a couple of notes really helped me get this off my mind and get back to sleep.  Over the next week or two I continued to revisit this entry and capture more thoughts from that night as well as potential mitigation ideas.  I like reviewing this every now and then.  I currently have about 10 events on my phone.  I don't document events if there is a similar one on the phone.  I just review the existing entry and maybe update it to capture any new thoughts that bubble up.  Entering events isn't a one time task for me.  I find that as I review the entry, I get more ideas and more insights into the associated thoughts.

Tools - Daily Goals

I actually use the Daily Goals tool, fairly regularly.  It helps when I'm really busy and need to keep little things from falling through the cracks.  I've been waffling on only having 3 things to accomplish.  I originally set on three due to formatting on the phone.  I've been thinking of increasing it to 5, but then I start thinking that if I knock something off by lunch I can then use that item's space for a new item to accomplish.  That helps keep my list short and helps keep me focused on just a few items to complete.  Thoughts?  I can add a couple of more in a future build if that's what we want.

Tools - an into...

Looks like we're at that point where I get to go into the tools section of Mood Sentry.  The first tools I created were the Event Log, Observations log, Essays, and the Daily Goals.  These were things I typically used via my computer, and got the ideas for from Dr. Burns' book "Feeling Good."  Most of these were generated in regular word processor files such as MS Word or Google Docs.  The Daily Goals was something I tried on a note pad I had printed at Kinko's, but it didn't really catch on with me in hard copy form.  Later on I added the Cost Benefit analysis and the the Ideal Self tools.  I think the last tool I added was the Prioritization tool, which was an idea I got from a book about people who are further along the Asperger scale than most.  I use all these tools, though I use some more than others.  I find that having these tools on my phone enables me to record and review my thoughts as convenient, with a good sense of confidentiality.  Sometimes I get away from the office and review entries at a coffee shot, sometimes I simply do it at my desk.  Note that my entries evolve over time.  I'll discuss how I use each of these tools in upcoming posts.