Why programmers should add journaling to their daily routine
Tags: webdev, beginners, productivity, codenewbie
Published: 2021-05-16 12:57:51

Journaling is a great way to get thoughts out of your head. I have been doing it for quite a while using various apps. At the moment I am using an app called [Daylio](https://daylio.net/) which is available on both iOS and Android. The great thing about this app is that it is more than just your average journal app. The key selling point here is that it can also be used as a mood diary and happiness tracker. I find that it's a really amazing tool because I can write journal entries in addition to having a visual overview of my current mental health.

## What are the benefits of journaling
I believe that this has got to be one of the best ways for keeping your health in check and as an added bonus you can use the data and statistics as a way to recognize triggers and patterns. I think one of its greatest features is the fact that you can export all of that data as a CSV file. With that data you could potentially create a database or an API and turn it into some sort of app. For example you could build an app that uses that data and comes up with solutions for when your mood changes.

The journal entries don't even have to be super long blocks of text either. I believe this is one reason why many people choose not to journal in the first place because they assume that its going to be far too time consuming for them to put in the effort. The thing about Daylio though is that you can write as little or as much text as you want. In fact you could even use one of the emoticons for the moods and that could be one journal entry for the day.

## How journaling can be a path to creative writing
Here's a little secret if you want to get really good at creative writing then you should start with journaling. People like to talk about themselves so what better way for you to practice getting those thoughts out of your head in a concise manner than writing some entries into your personal journal. Pretty soon you will get the hang of it and hopefully become a natural. The content that you write is like a portal into your personality. It is refreshing to release all of those thoughts and put them together into something that you can easily visualize and digest. When you are able to easily connect with your inner self then it will become just as easy to connect with other people too.

# Mood Diary
### Mood Count
In the screenshot below you can see an example of how the daily Mood Count looks.

![https://res.cloudinary.com/d74fh3kw/image/upload/v1620669216/daylio\_stats\_mood\_count\_nonzhq.png](https://res.cloudinary.com/d74fh3kw/image/upload/v1620669216/daylio_stats_mood_count_nonzhq.png)

### Average Daily Mood
The screenshot below shows you what the Average Daily Mood looks like.

![https://res.cloudinary.com/d74fh3kw/image/upload/v1620669216/daylio\_stats\_mood\_agsnot.png](https://res.cloudinary.com/d74fh3kw/image/upload/v1620669216/daylio_stats_mood_agsnot.png)

### Year in Pixels
The data for this screen is pretty impressive as you are able to see your average mood for each month in a year.

![https://res.cloudinary.com/d74fh3kw/image/upload/v1620669216/daylio\_stats\_year\_jvgdsn.png](https://res.cloudinary.com/d74fh3kw/image/upload/v1620669216/daylio_stats_year_jvgdsn.png)

These are just a few examples of the data that is shown there is a lot more available in the app.

## Final Thoughts

I really hope that you enjoyed reading this article and learned something from it. As a content creator and technical writer I am passionate about sharing my knowledge and helping other people reach their goals. Let's connect across social media you can find all of my social media profiles and blogs on [linktree](https://linktr.ee/andrewbaisden).

Peace ✌️