“Mood journaling is the act of logging your mood so you can recognize trends, triggers, and use of your energy. You can mood journal just by logging how or what you felt. Or you can go more in-depth by naming your emotion and identifying what caused it, what resulted from it, and whether it was contextually appropriate.” (Greatist.com) You don’t need to buy a fancy mood journal. You can download and print our free Emotion Journaling Worksheet now and get started immediately.
Journaling your thoughts, emotions, and challenges has been shown to reduce anxiety and depression. One reason: Putting down our problems on paper often helps us see the causes — and therefore solutions — more clearly.A mood journal is similar, but since it’s focused on your emotions, it’ll bring clarity to how to improve your mental health. An emotion journal allows you to record your feelings over several days or weeks and then notice patterns or trends. When you can recognize these trends, you can work to eliminate or avoid certain triggers — or focus your energy on how best to respond next time.” (Healthline.com)
Emotion Journaling Worksheet Instructions
The Emotion Journaling Worksheet is previewed below. Just click the DOWNLOAD button to get the .pdf file.
To use the worksheet, during a quiet period (maybe bedtime?) recall any strong emotions you experienced. On your worksheet:
- Record the date and the emotion you felt (e.g., fear, anger, panic. etc.)
- Record the event that caused you to feel that emotion. (e.g., somebody said something…)
- Next, write down any behaviors or actions this emotion caused you to take. (e.g., did you raise your voice, did you leave the room, etc.)
- Answer the question “Is this emotion appropriate to the situation?” (e.g., was your emotional response to strong?)
- Finally, reflect on whether or not the emotional response is an example of a problem you need to solve or was it a reasonable reaction requiring no action.
Keep the completed worksheet in a folder for future reference.
Related Article: How to Spring Clean Your Mind (6 Power Tips)
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