Dealing With Depression-The Daily Activity Log Method

How can you reduce depression?

Here’s a tool for you:
→    Daily Activity Log

We’ve just seen it in the past, but now we’re gonna go deeper.
So let’s see how you can give it a go.

1.    Take your journal.
Over the next 30 days, write down what you do each day.
Both the big stuff and the little things that make up your day.
Like writing a food journal.

You’re gonna write:
→    Start time (when you start that activity)
→    End time (when you finish that activity)
→    Activity (the name of that activity)

2.    After writing down the activity, you’re gonna rate your feelings.
Well, by giving a score in terms of “mood”.

You’re gonna jot down:
→    Mood before the activity (1 to 5)
→    Mood after the activity (1 to 5)

You can also add an extra field where you explain that feeling.
Here’s an example of Daily Activity Log:

✔︎    7:00 AM – 8:00 AM: Morning walk in the park
 →        Mood before:  3
 →        Mood after:  5

✔︎    10:00 AM – 10:15 AM: Phone call with Jasmine
 →        Mood before:  2
 →        Mood after:  4

✔︎    1:00 PM – 1:30 PM: Social media scrolling
 →        Mood before:  4
 →        Mood after:  1

✔︎    7:00 PM – 7:30 PM: Cooked a new recipe
 →        Mood before:  2
 →        Mood after:  4

✔︎    9:30 PM – 11:00 PM: Watched a movie
 →        Mood before:  4
 →        Mood after:  3

3.    Now spot the vibes.
→    Look at your Daily Log and see if there’s any pattern.

Ask yourself these two questions:
→    What activities lift me up?
→    What activities bring me down?
 
4.    Now, based on what you’ve found, do this:
→    Try adding more activities that are making you feel great.
→    Try cutting back on what’s not making you feel great.

For example you could:
→    Add a phone call with a friend (15 minutes a day)
→    Cut back a bit of social media scrolling (15 minutes a day)

As we know, life is a time game.