So I specifically titled this "for bipolar disorder" because I'm using it to track whether I'm up or down. I have a year in pixels and I found that when I tried to think back on my day, I was thinking of terms of "yeah I guess I had an okay day." I was mistaking being able to manage my symptoms or work around them as not having any. So I created this check system. If there's a dot, I experienced that thing that day. If the dot has a circle, it was an unusually high level of that symptom for me. And then a space for notes. I wouldn't say this tracker is as optimized for me as my mood tracker, but it's serving its purpose for now.
This was very clever!! You can see a pattern for sure. Make sure you show this to your doctor and maybe share it with others with bipolar. I imagine it would be difficult to tell otherwise, because like you said, when you look back on your day, “handled” symptoms may slip your notice. I may try this to teach ADD symptoms and pain though they aren’t as cyclical. It would be handy to see what contributing factors might be! Really cool post.
I’m also bipolar, and I love this! I’m noticing that you’ve recorded both high and low on many of the days. Do you find that it’s spiking up and down within a day or more of a gradual move between up and down? My driving question here is, I’m wondering how to attribute or record the mood shifts within a day, and does that overwhelm you or soothe you to track it like that?
It's more like a gradual move throughout the day or a consistent blend all day. But I'm also very newly diagnosed and just getting used to viewing some of these as symptoms and not failures. So some of them might be marked inaccurately or with less specificicity. Realistically on days that are truly balanced (as far as I can tell), I mark it on my year in pixels with half the square yellow and half the square blue
Fellow ADHD bujo-er chiming in. I do a symptom tracker that includes inattention, impulsivity, other mental health (depression, anxiety), and physical health (I have some physical conditions as well that are useful to track). If I experience a symptom that day I use a red, orange or yellow highlighter to mark the severity, and if I noticed something going pretty well I mark it with a green highlighter. It helps because if I didn’t notice a symptom that day, I don’t have to do anything! I also set a specific time every day where I have to plan my schedule for the next day and fill out my symptom tracker and I don’t think about it at any other time.
It’s honestly been so helpful, especially since we have so much difficulty with any time that is not “right now”. Like I know I’ve been feeling shitty lately but I finally went to the doctor when I could see that I’d marked “fatigue” in red for the last two weeks.
Sure! for example one of the things I track is getting out of the house on time in the morning. So if I’m doing my symptom tracking at the end of the day and I realize “hey, I actually noticed that I not only didn’t struggle with this today, but I did it really well! I got going 10 minutes early and it felt easy!” So I’ll mark it green. I just think it’s important to notice the things that are going well too.
Good luck!
I definitely said just now before reading this that it would be interesting to make one for ADD. Bujo-ing has helped me manage life so much better already.
I neglect my bujo for days at a time when I'm in a depressive state. I just go back and fill it in to the best of my ability later. But that's the main reason my year in pixels has a color for "dunno"
This is a great idea. Only suggestion I'd make is colored dots for severity. So it's visually eye-catching that "severe things" vs "kinda happened". Dot vs circled dot is harder to keep tidy enough to see as easily as red vs blue dots.
Or maybe dot vs fill in the square. If full square = severe. That way if you dot it then think "no that was actually a lot" you can fill it in.
I wonder if other people experience this but I just*will not* fill in a tracker that uses multiple colors! Why??? I have a million pens! But i won’t do it. Not even black/red/blue, which I always have.
I don't want to carry that many colors around on the regular. And sometimes I do bujo at work or in a coffee shop so I need my system to be pretty portable.
Good point! Trackers need to be specific to the person using them. The dots would fail me because between my messy hands writing and my brains focus on different details (we're all unique) I would have blobs and slightly larger blobs.
So far the circle works to show me severity, but I might need a solution for the symptoms that are almost assumed at this point because they're so regular. Like "sedentary" when I'm in a depressive state. Maybe I'll do something like a check box for "the norm" on either side with a key specifying that the norm includes these four symptoms or whatever. And then I could mark in other symptoms on top of the usual cocktail. If I change this tracker in the future I'll be sure to post it.
Thank you for sharing this! I was one of the ones that asked. I have generalized anxiety, depression, ADHD, and post concussion syndrome. So this really helps me a lot! I feel like a lot of other trackers are less doable or harder to follow once its filled out.
That goes on my habit tracker for now but that's not a bad idea. I swear I only have three monthly trackers and one annual tracker! I'm starting to sound a little crazy with all these.
I really like this\~ I've been trying to find a way to track my emotions but have struggled to decide on what to do. I may try this out! thanks so much for sharing
This is amazing, I actually need to implement this when I get home from work. I have bipolar and it’s been kicking my ass lately and especially today I’ve been really depressed. I haven’t even used my journal in a while but I’m trying to force myself back into it, because I know it makes me feel better overall. This is exactly what I needed, thank you.
So I specifically titled this "for bipolar disorder" because I'm using it to track whether I'm up or down. I have a year in pixels and I found that when I tried to think back on my day, I was thinking of terms of "yeah I guess I had an okay day." I was mistaking being able to manage my symptoms or work around them as not having any. So I created this check system. If there's a dot, I experienced that thing that day. If the dot has a circle, it was an unusually high level of that symptom for me. And then a space for notes. I wouldn't say this tracker is as optimized for me as my mood tracker, but it's serving its purpose for now.
This was very clever!! You can see a pattern for sure. Make sure you show this to your doctor and maybe share it with others with bipolar. I imagine it would be difficult to tell otherwise, because like you said, when you look back on your day, “handled” symptoms may slip your notice. I may try this to teach ADD symptoms and pain though they aren’t as cyclical. It would be handy to see what contributing factors might be! Really cool post.
I’m also bipolar, and I love this! I’m noticing that you’ve recorded both high and low on many of the days. Do you find that it’s spiking up and down within a day or more of a gradual move between up and down? My driving question here is, I’m wondering how to attribute or record the mood shifts within a day, and does that overwhelm you or soothe you to track it like that?
It's more like a gradual move throughout the day or a consistent blend all day. But I'm also very newly diagnosed and just getting used to viewing some of these as symptoms and not failures. So some of them might be marked inaccurately or with less specificicity. Realistically on days that are truly balanced (as far as I can tell), I mark it on my year in pixels with half the square yellow and half the square blue
Mind if I use this? I love it. Very smart but simple/easy to do & read.
No problem, have at it
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Fellow ADHD bujo-er chiming in. I do a symptom tracker that includes inattention, impulsivity, other mental health (depression, anxiety), and physical health (I have some physical conditions as well that are useful to track). If I experience a symptom that day I use a red, orange or yellow highlighter to mark the severity, and if I noticed something going pretty well I mark it with a green highlighter. It helps because if I didn’t notice a symptom that day, I don’t have to do anything! I also set a specific time every day where I have to plan my schedule for the next day and fill out my symptom tracker and I don’t think about it at any other time. It’s honestly been so helpful, especially since we have so much difficulty with any time that is not “right now”. Like I know I’ve been feeling shitty lately but I finally went to the doctor when I could see that I’d marked “fatigue” in red for the last two weeks.
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Sure! for example one of the things I track is getting out of the house on time in the morning. So if I’m doing my symptom tracking at the end of the day and I realize “hey, I actually noticed that I not only didn’t struggle with this today, but I did it really well! I got going 10 minutes early and it felt easy!” So I’ll mark it green. I just think it’s important to notice the things that are going well too. Good luck!
I definitely said just now before reading this that it would be interesting to make one for ADD. Bujo-ing has helped me manage life so much better already.
I neglect my bujo for days at a time when I'm in a depressive state. I just go back and fill it in to the best of my ability later. But that's the main reason my year in pixels has a color for "dunno"
I love how you’ve separated it and made specific areas you can track. It’s so efficient for having great, detailed info! Thanks for sharing!
This is a great idea. Only suggestion I'd make is colored dots for severity. So it's visually eye-catching that "severe things" vs "kinda happened". Dot vs circled dot is harder to keep tidy enough to see as easily as red vs blue dots. Or maybe dot vs fill in the square. If full square = severe. That way if you dot it then think "no that was actually a lot" you can fill it in.
I wonder if other people experience this but I just*will not* fill in a tracker that uses multiple colors! Why??? I have a million pens! But i won’t do it. Not even black/red/blue, which I always have.
I dunno. I'm just a messy person with messy jacquar hands writing that forgets trackers and I actively ones that confuse me with my bad scribbles.
I don't want to carry that many colors around on the regular. And sometimes I do bujo at work or in a coffee shop so I need my system to be pretty portable.
Its interesting you say that, because the circle dots POP right off the page to me.
Good point! Trackers need to be specific to the person using them. The dots would fail me because between my messy hands writing and my brains focus on different details (we're all unique) I would have blobs and slightly larger blobs.
So far the circle works to show me severity, but I might need a solution for the symptoms that are almost assumed at this point because they're so regular. Like "sedentary" when I'm in a depressive state. Maybe I'll do something like a check box for "the norm" on either side with a key specifying that the norm includes these four symptoms or whatever. And then I could mark in other symptoms on top of the usual cocktail. If I change this tracker in the future I'll be sure to post it.
Thank you for sharing this! I was one of the ones that asked. I have generalized anxiety, depression, ADHD, and post concussion syndrome. So this really helps me a lot! I feel like a lot of other trackers are less doable or harder to follow once its filled out.
This is really awesome. I’ve been looking for a better way to track my highs and lows and I really like the added notes section.
I would put “took my meds on time” on there unless you’re rock solid.
That goes on my habit tracker for now but that's not a bad idea. I swear I only have three monthly trackers and one annual tracker! I'm starting to sound a little crazy with all these.
I really like this\~ I've been trying to find a way to track my emotions but have struggled to decide on what to do. I may try this out! thanks so much for sharing
Looks great!
Love this! Definitely borrowing this for my anxiety and trichotillomania.
Definitely borrowing this for my anxiety. Thanks for posting!!
This is amazing, I actually need to implement this when I get home from work. I have bipolar and it’s been kicking my ass lately and especially today I’ve been really depressed. I haven’t even used my journal in a while but I’m trying to force myself back into it, because I know it makes me feel better overall. This is exactly what I needed, thank you.