A mood tracker is a tool to keep track of your moods throughout the day. Its purpose is to track mood patterns during different events and circumstances. A mood tracker can be useful to help regulate moods for those suffering from depression or anxiety.

Plus, they can be used by anybody wanting to keep track on their stress levels and possible triggers. With over 500 mood tracker apps in the Apple Apps Store, these types of tools are gaining in popularity. Let’s take a look at how they can help, the different ones available and how to make one for yourself.

What Are the Benefits of Mood Tracking?

There are many benefits to mood tracking including taking care of your mental health. Here’s how taking note of your feelings might help:

• Pinpoint internal and external triggers that cause mood swings
• Learn the effect that diet, daily activities and sleep health are having on your performance
• Use the information to develop ways of coping with your moods and any adverse behavior
• Spot mood patterns and why these shifts happen
• Find out if treatment is having a positive effect on mood patterns

Different Types of Mood Tracker Available

There are multiple mood tracker ideas to get started with. The best ones include:

• Mood tracker journal. It’s easy to keep track of your moods in a mood tracker bullet journal. Use a notebook, a daily planner or a specific mood tracker journal to jot down how you’re feeling at regular intervals throughout the day.
• Mood tracker printable chart. Mood and anxiety charts are ideal to track treatment progress and anxiety levels each day. Printable mood chart can be made yourself online or downloaded from Etsy for example.
• Visual mood tracker. These are illustrated trackers to keep track of your mood. One example is a mood mandala, that requires you to color in areas of the graphic in relation to your mood.
• Online apps. There are many mood tracker apps available for download. Some are free, while others require an up-front fee to get access. Each one allows you to track your moods and the events surrounding each.

How to Create a Mood Tracker Journal?

A bullet journal mood tracker can be as simple or elaborate as you want. First decide if you’d like to make a monthly or yearly mood tracker. Yearly mood trackers are great if you want to keep things simple and monthly mood trackers allow you to track your moods in more depth. Follow these steps to create your mood tracker journal:

Create a Mood Tracker Key

A mood tracker needs a key to track different moods. This can be a color code relating to each emotion or you can use face emojis. Some examples of moods and feelings to track are:

• Anxiety
• Calm
• Depression
• Happiness
• Sadness
• Tiredness
• High energy
• Low energy
• Creativeness

Choose a Mood Tracker Layout

Decide on a mood tracker layout that suits you. Create a simple graph or fun numbered images that can be colored each day according to your mood.

Remember that mood trackers can only help when you make use of them. If you often forget to fill out your mood tracker journal, consider setting a reminder on your phone. Use a mood tracker alongside meditation with the BetterSleep app to overcome stress, boost mental health and improve sleep hygiene.