Didn't Use Mood Sentry Until this Evening

I'm not sure why, but I think it was because I had a fairly clear picture of what I was going to do today.  My issues at work were on my mind for most of the day, but I managed to get in a short hike, some reading, and I've gotten back to working on the next update to Mood Sentry.  It will be a while before it comes out, because I'll be touching just about every module in the app, on both versions (android and iPhone).  I also spent some time documenting some thoughts regarding my work challenges and then e-mailing them to myself at work.  Sometimes, just doing something like that can take a load off my mind and help me relax.  Other than that, I just read the Evening Reminder and set some goals for tomorrow.  I'll probably go into the office for a bit to get one thing off my plate, which should really help me prepare 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.

Trying Something Different

I've mentioned that I've been having some challenges recently.  After meeting with my therapist yesterday, I'm capturing my thoughts in an effort to help me identify what thoughts are really driving my mood, or perhaps driving my mood lower if the real culprit is my depression asserting itself for some reason.  Rather than using Mood Sentry, I've gone back to the pen and paper approach.  One thing I like about this approach is the ease with which I can write.  It's just as handy as the app, but the format feels a bit better for this exploratory mindset I'm in right now.  I could use either the observation or essay tool, but for some reason using pen and paper just feels like the best way to document what is going on in my head these days.  I'll see how this works.  Once I start narrowing down which thoughts are doing the most damage, I expect that I'll go back to using Mood Sentry to capture the thoughts and counter thoughts.  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.

Did Better Today

Using the Daily Goals tool helped today. I had a lot of little things to accomplish today, and I hit just about all of them and then some.  The ones I didn't hit required other people to get back to me, which is something I can't control.  I've added another item and I'll hit that after this posting.  That other item has to do with preparing for a therapist visit tomorrow.  I may even do some light preparation for work if I have the inclination and time.  I've really been in a funk for the past couple of months.  I feel like I'm coming out of it and am not sure if it's because external influences are improving (mostly work related) or because something internal is improving (body chemistry?).  In either case, I'm feeling more like my typical depressed self rather than the really stressed out and anxious person I've been.  I believe working Mood Sentry has helped, but I have to admit that it gets tough to motivate myself to use the app when I'm really stressed.  I'll set some goals for tomorrow and prepare for my therapist visit.  That usually helps me manage my thoughts for Monday.  We'll see how things go 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.

Had an OK Day

I had a bunch of things I wanted to accomplish, but ended up "vegging" in front of the TV for about 3 hours which really impacted my motivation (negatively) and the amount of things I could accomplish.  I found myself thinking that I Should be working on other things rather than watching TV and feeling a bit depressed.  So what did I do?  I remembered that just getting started doing something can help defeat thoughts like this and nudged myself to get one thing done.  I picked up a magazine that I wanted to skim/read through and did just that.  Then I picked up another and read a couple of articles.  I only got to about half the things I wanted to get to, but that's OK.  I actually got several things done today and that was good.  I also made it a point to use my Daily Goals tool this evening and set some goals for tomorrow, which usually helps with things like this.  Having things written down is more effective than just trying to keep a list in my head.  We'll see how things go 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.

A CD Cocktail

I was just reviewing "My Experiences" with my day in mind and identified multiple distortions.  All or Nothing, Overgeneralizations, Magnification, Should Statements, Personalization, and of course Emotional Reasoning.  They seem to build on each other, so identifying which one came up first is not easy.  I don't think that matters because I was able to address each based on my entries in "My Experiences."  Note that I didn't eliminate the thoughts nor the associated feelings, but I was able to reduce their impact on my mood.  That's good enough for me and better than suffering in silence.  I'll next review some of my "Event" entries and maybe some entries in the other tools to see what I have that's related to my current situation.  After more than two years I'm sure I'll find something relevant.

Customer Concern

Had one of my customers contact me today with a concern that there appears to be a lack of progress on the project.  I've had the same nagging feeling about the project myself.  At first I was thinking that I've failed somehow and the the customer thinks the same.  But, I spent some time speaking with him and learned that this is partly due to how we're reporting things on our bi-weekly meetings.  My customer gave me some guidance on what we could do differently, and it meshed with some suggestions I received from the team yesterday.  I was feeling a bit better, but I still have these thoughts that I won't be able to get the team on track and that I'm doomed to be a failure.  I can address these thoughts, in particular the failure thoughts (how can I be a failure when the project is nowhere near complete?).  The main thing I need to do is seek help, from both my team and from other project leads.  Seeking help may lessen the forecasts of failure, primarily because I'll be actively trying to fix the situation rather than just feeling bad about it.  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.

Never Set any Goals for Today

I intended to, but never got around to it.  I guess I didn't use Mood Sentry at all today.  I did pretty well in any case because I had an idea of the goals I intended to set today, which helped.  Regarding my thoughts, this was my first day back after my vacation and I had forecasts that things would get out of hand.  What I did was press on with the things I needed to do.  Accomplishing things is one of my best defenses against tainted thoughts.  That's something I've learned over the past couple of years.  Note that in retrospect, nothing got out of hand.

Just Reviewed my Goals

I just reviewed my goals for today, and I hit all of them except the ones related to this app.  I feel pretty good about that because the goals I hit were the ones I really needed to hit.  I can address the ones for the app over this upcoming week.  Note that I had a lot of anxiety inside me this morning and early after noon.  I kayaked this morning, which helped a bit and then went in to work this afternoon which helped even more.  Physical activity and actively addressing those things that drive my thoughts can really help me manage my anxiety.

Another OK Day

Remarkably similar to my previous OK day.  I did not set any goals for today, but still got a lot of stuff done.  I ended up going into the office and set a time limit of 2 hours for some reason.  I got plenty done in that time, and felt much more comfortable (I was feeling a bit anxious about work, and was forecasting that I would be inundated with things that piled up while I was out).  I'll probably go in tomorrow for a bit to do some clean up.  Regarding setting goals, I just set some for tomorrow that include play, work, and some updates to the app.  I need to get my focus back on the app and plan 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.

Had an OK Day

I'm still on vacation.  I did not set any goals today, which in hindsight may not have been the best decision.  I had this nagging feeling throughout the day that I wasn't getting anything done.  However, looking back on my day I can see that in fact I did get many things done, including a workout, catching up on work e-mail, catching up on my reading, updating my finances, and more.  Setting some goals up front helps me recognize when I accomplish things throughout the day and helps beat these thoughts of not getting things done.  I'll set some goals for tomorrow before turning in tonight.

Didn't Sleep Well...

Didn't sleep well last night.  Was tossing and turning, thinking about work.  This morning I made the time to review My Experiences with the thoughts that were in my head last night.  I caught a bunch of distortions, such as all or nothing and overgeneralizations.  I tried countering those thoughts, but was still anxious throughout the day.  I kept challenging those thoughts throughout the day and this evening I reviewed a couple of essays and observations that related to my thoughts.  Right now, I'm feeling OK.  Not great, but definitely better than earlier today.  I'll keep working this.

Slept Well, but...

Returned to the inn after a great day, only to find a voicemail on my work phone related to the issue I'm having at work.  I felt really bad that this issue came up in the first place, driven mostly by a should statement.  I didn't quite understand the question the caller asked, and thought I wouldn't be able to fix it from my current location.  I returned the call and left a message for him to contact my alternate and see if he can help.  I then opened up Mood Sentry with these thoughts in mind and reviewed My Experiences.  I recognized the should statement, but also some labeling, magnifications, all or nothing, and forecasting.  I then opened the Event Log and worked on the item related to the issue at work.  Doing these two things didn't eliminate the stress and anxiety I felt, but they definitely reduced these feelings.  I'll keep working on these.

Woke Early Again

This time it was forecasting.  I was thinking about how things would go today, and anticipating phone calls and bad news related to my job.  I was able to counter those negative forecasts by substituting positive and even neutral thoughts and also by reframing some of those forecasts to be neutral.  I managed to get back to sleep.

So how did things go?  There were no phone calls to me with bad news, and the call I made to check on things revealed that things were going OK back at the office.  I have custom entries in Mood Sentry related to this and will review them this evening.

Woke Up Early

I'm on vacation and woke up early this morning thinking about work.  I was feeling depressed and anxious, and was able to track it down to a couple of distortions: overgeneralizations and all or nothing thinking.  I had a challenge on one program that was more than just a challenge, it was an error on my part.  The overgeneralization involved believing that I was going to make the same error on my other two projects.  The all or nothing thinking involved believing that the whole project was ruined.  Once I recognized both of these distortions I was able to counter both.  Countering these thoughts was fairly straight forward and made me wonder how I got these thoughts in the first place.  Who knows.  I'm glad I caught these thoughts and was able to get back to sleep.

Going on Vacation for a few Days

My posts will be infrequent at best over the next week.  I'll have access to my e-mail, so if you need support try contacting my via the support link in the Contact Us section of the app.  Other than that, consider taking the time to review the hints that are associated with each of the different pages and see if they help.  If not, perhaps you'll have a suggestion that might help me improve the hints.  You can send a note to the support e-mail link mentioned previously.

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.

Lots of Forecasting Today

I have multiple tasks going on, all involving interactions with other people and thus driving forecasts of conflict and failure.  I found myself feeling a bit anxious about tomorrow, and realized it was these forecasts that were driving my anxiety.  I reviewed my experiences with emphasis on the jumping to conclusions entry.  It didn't eliminate the feeling, but it reduced it.

Today Improved

I started out stressed over this latest issue at work, but by the end of the day I was feeling far less stressed.  I think it was due to recognizing the should statements that were driving my mood and seeking advice on how to handle my situation.  Addressing the should statements is fairly straight forward for someone reading this blog (or so I assume).  Seeking advice was a significant help in that it put the lie to some of my forecasts of total failure and doom.  It's odd, but when I enter a crisis mode it often takes a couple of days for the thoughts to run their course before I really get a handle on them and doing things like challenging the should statements and seeking advice and guidance.  Once I get a handle on my thoughts, things tend to trend toward the positive.

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 Sleep Well Last Night

I didn't sleep well last night.  I think I figured out one of the things that's been keeping me up, and that is being stuck in my current position.  I've been trying unsuccessfully to get a different position for a couple of years and realized that I have these distorted thoughts related to that effort.  Basically, I've been thinking that I'll never get another position and that I'm doomed to fail.  These thoughts were lurking below the surface and I didn't realize I had them.  However, while reviewing My Experiences this morning these thoughts came to the surface.  I was able to recognize these thoughts as distortions and countered them with other thoughts.  I still had negative feelings but they weren't as severe.

Had an OK Day

My stress level has been elevated for most of the day.  This has mostly been driven by feeling overwhelmed by all the things I'd like to do.  The prioritization scheme helps in times like this, by helping me identify things I really don't need to work on.  Also, the daily goals tool helps in times like this by helping me scope my efforts to something I can manage. However, I did not use either of those tools today.  I just didn't feel like I had the time.  That's kind of odd, because in my experience, taking the time to work the various tools in Mood Sentry is usually worth it.  So why didn't I?  I think it was partly driven by emotional reasoning and partly by getting distracted by some of the many things I was working on.  Looking back, I completed just about everything I wanted to complete today, which is a good thing.  I'll make the time to plan some stuff for tomorrow (using the Daily Goals tool) and then call it a 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.

Been on Travel

I was on a business trip for a couple of days.  I had a major review for a project that's coming to an end.  Yes, I used Mood Sentry to collect my thoughts and prepare.  For meetings like this I usually have to deal with forecasts of conflict and failure.  If you review past entries in this blog you'll see that these thoughts come up quite often.  As such, I have entries to address these, which typically involve reflecting on previous events with the people I will be dealing with. In this case, those previous events went very well.  There really was no conflict or failure.  That helped alleviate the feelings but didn't make them go away.  That was good enough, because I really just needed to function.  Regarding this blog, the reason I wasn't posting was because I was quite busy.  My apologies if you're a frequent reader and feel you missed something.

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.