by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
I’ve always kept a journal…well, since first grade, anyway. I look back on those childhood diaries and wonder who that person was. My adult journaling has been a lot more erratic than my childhood and teen journaling and the days usually fly by without my taking the time to make notes on them.
I’ve used online journals before, but the sites ended up going under (I did retrieve my entries before they did).
I’d heard about the free app Daylio (for Apple and Android) a while back, but because it was mostly billed as a mood tracker, I didn’t really take a closer look at it. My moods are fairly even (and since I’ve been using Daylio, Daylio has backed this up). But I think this could be incredibly useful to anyone who is trying to track moods because you can report all the activities you participated in on the excellent/good/bad day and see patterns. Maybe you have an especially good day when you fit in exercise and writing, or you have an especially bad day when you didn’t get enough sleep, etc.
I didn’t realize that the app is more than just mood tracking. And I didn’t realize that it is practically word-free, using icons for activities and moods. There’s an optional spot to add notes about your day, but nothing suggesting that it’s an important part of the daily tracking.
Like everyone else, I try to maintain some balance in my life, as busy as it is. To keep from burning out, I try and make room for exercise, rest, reading, eating well, and relaxing with family. I’m using the app to do this and click on each activity that I’ve been able to accomplish at the end of each day.
Writing is a habit for me (I still track it on the app, but unless I’ve gotten pretty sick, it’s on there).
For anyone who is trying to build up a writing habit (or any other good habit), this would be an incredibly easy way to do it. You can set the app to remind you when you haven’t made an entry for the day. And it’s very encouraging to see a string of successes.
For those of you who are into data and statistics, you can get some nice charts to see your progress (from the Daylio website):
You can customize your activities on the app to make it more useful.
And I liked the app’s privacy policy.
For further reading and ideas on how others use Daylio, read this post by Michael Stoppa.
Do you journal? Use Daylio? Are you into tracking? What helpful apps do you use?
A Free App for Tracking Habits: Share on XPhoto on Visualhunt.com
Interesting app. My mood doesn’t change much either. Although it might be tied to the weather – the hotter it is, the more my mood tends to slide.
You must be in a pretty rough mood now! Boy, has it been hot.
Journaling can be a really powerful way to keep track of our habits and our growth. In some courses I’ve taught, I’ve had students use journaling to discuss their understanding of the content, too, and their growth as learners. I like it that there are well-developed apps and other technology for using journaling.
That sounds like a great way to teach literature, Margot. And you’re right, it’s nice to have easy tools to make journaling a no-brainer.
If it tracks activity, that would be neat.
It’s adaptable, which is key. I’ve been using it to track what I’m eating and what types of exercising I’m doing.
Hi Elizabeth – due to circumstances I don’t think I could use this app … it’s not indicative of where I am, or who I am for that matter: but that’s life for me. But I’d love to try it – I’ll have to remember for when life becomes stable again and I’m home in my own environment … interesting though – cheers Hilary