Mood diary, Mood Chart, Energies Log

It gives real insight and self awareness allowing you to pinpoint low mood and high mood frequency and patterns. Knowledge is king. Know your enemy. Armed with that knowledge and information you can take steps to balance out your feelings and energy levels.

It's invaluable if you are seeking medical help. It speeds up the process as you posess real, relevant details about your experiences and symptoms. To read more about mood disorders including S.A.D syndrome, or M.E./ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

We need different energy for different activities, and periods of rest and relaxation in between. Constant or frantic high energy could lead to difficulty in sleeping or getting to sleep. Feels great at the time and you think you can achieve anything! BUT then you 'crash and burn' and you become incapable of doing the smallest of tasks or even taking an interest in them!

Maybe your moods are not so extreme, but feeling low, drained, lethargic and 'wiped out' will prevent you from achieving your daily tasks or routines.Is your happiness in peril from:

• Fatigue
  - feel worn out due to lack of energy to achieve your desired outcome
• Lack or loss of motivation or interest
  - unable to look forward to or value, previously desired activities
• Pessimism
  - unable to look forward to or expect good things about the future, or that good outcomes are possible

Fig. 1.This example uses 4 basic colours.

Down in the Dumps

Feeling down and in the dumps Got a cold, the flu, or mumps, Conjure up some happy thoughts Jokes and stories of all sorts Need a laugh - then watch cartoons Chuckle a-way those afternoons Things look grey or feeling blue Have a coffee, make a brew Ask a friend round for a chat Or tell your troubles to the cat Take the dog out for his run Playing Frisby you'll both have fun

Feeling low, tired or drained Lacking energy, worried, pained Exercise, get your body moving Walk in nature, so mind-soothing Swimming, jogging, jumping rope Keep on going, keep up hope A garden stroll, admire the flowers Nature has such healing powers. Scents of roses, blossom sweet Lush green grass beneath your feet Breathe fresh air deep to your core It's great to feel alert once more

Pauline Oliver

Become AWARE of your energies!
KNOW what drains them and what boosts them.
DON'T waste your valuable personal resources!

Total Wipeout! Energy Drain, Depletion

I've witnessed instantaneous energy 'WIPEOUT' in others a number of times.

1. The first - a ten year old boy with severe dyslexia. We were involved in a drawing task. He could easily draw a circle, a square, and a triangle. I took a calculated risk and asked him to draw a house. He could not cope with that request, despite the fact that it can be made from some of the shapes he had already drawn. You could almost see the thick fog descend and envelope him. He became pale, dazed, confused, lethargic and totally drained of energy.
2. Secondly, a close friend who had a similar reaction to a different stimulus. Her reaction was to someone talking really fast and using some technical jargon with which she was unfamiliar. She went on to be diagnosed as having Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
   

I Don't Like Mondays

1. Is there a particular time, or day of the week when you feel less inclined, lower in energy or spirits and more prone to resourceful or unresourceful moods/states? (positve /negative)

Take Mondays, for example, for most people, returning to work after the weekend, requires a conscious change of pace, effort and attitude.

Or perhaps Saturdays are your energy drain, no scheduled commitments, change of routine, lack of energy after a busy week.

2. You may wake some mornings with a feeling of dread, lack of energy or enthusiasm, feeling well down in the dumps, for no apparent reason.
3. Perhaps your 'moods' are more unpredictable than that. They occur occasionally, with no apparent warning and with no apparent pattern.

The mood diary, energy diary or chart is aimed at not only finding out more about their occurrence, but then being proactive and taking positive action to deal with it.

How to Start a Mood Diary

1. how debilitating your mood swings, energy levels are
   
2. your motivation to change
3. what is most likely to work for you.

Keeping it Simple

Don't reinvent the wheel!. Use a commercial calendar, print a calendar page on the computer, or use a diary if you need it to be portable.

Note: If you need several entries a day then choose one with large squares as these can easily be divided into smaller sections. A small appointment diary will suit some people best.

You decide the level of information that would be useful to you, (unless of course you are keeping the log prior to an appointment with a medical practitioner.) Keep it to a minimum to begin with.

You can add details once you have used your mood diary, mood chart for a week.

Keeping a Mood Diary, Mood Chart

Grade your experiences.

• STEP 1.. Select 3 - 7 levels, 'shades of emotion,' mood or energy as appropriate to your chart outcome


• STEP 2. Assign each one a number, symbol or colour which reflects positive and negative energy states.
  
  
  NOTE: Be clear about the distinctions between each level:
  excited,
  content
  nervous,
  anxious,
  irritable.
  Energy e.g. crashed out, couch potato, routine tasks ok, more than usual done, can cope with anything.


• STEP 3. You're now ready to begin. Complete your mood diary or chart using your number, colour or symbol.

You could also use: coloured stickers, post-it-notes (sticky notes) with relevant information on them or you may have some unique individual ways of coding your feelings.

'Jenny's Doughtnut Days
My wonderful friend has 'doughnut days.' For her they are the days when something has not gone quite right and she needs a bit of cheering up, so she buys doughnuts for the office staff at work. It's her way of cheering herself up....by bringing some happiness to others?

So I guess you could use food pictures or drawings too!

Do it NOW. You know you deserve more!

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