Self-Awareness Log

Self-Awareness Log
Self-Awareness is the key foundation for Emotional Intelligence and Self-Development. Your emotions directly affect your body, your thoughts, your decisions, your reactions, your relationships and therefore your whole life.By learning to recognise how and when strong emotions are triggered in you, and in which situations, you can –

• Learn to understand how your emotions affect you.• Learn which situations trigger your emotions.• Develop strategies for better coping with difficult situations.• Gain better control of your emotions• Recognise patterns in your behaviour or character.• Learn to recognise what these patterns teach you about yourself.• Build a closer relationship with yourself.• Improve your relationships.• Improve your performance at work.• Reduce stress and improve your health

….. and MUCH more !

HOW THIS APP WILL HELP YOU

First of all, this is not designed to be used as a general, daily emotion diary; it is for recording the details of particularly emotional events or situations, and the ways in which you react to them.

The App will help you to become more emotionally literate; to break down your emotions into understandable categories and to really think about what it is you are actually feeling. Making a note of these emotions and when they came up, with whom, how you reacted, and what they made you think, will guide you through the process of self-examination.



HOW IT WORKS

NEW ENTRY(to be completed as soon as possible after the event)

Section one asks you to choose from a choice of 10 base emotions. All emotions have their roots in one or more core descriptions; deciding which one best describes the feelings you are having forces you to analyse it deeper and to help you understand your emotions better with time.

Section two asks you to choose from 8 options that categorise the general situation; who you are with and where you are at the time. It’s useful to see patterns in your emotional state when with different people and in different environments.

Section three asks you to note down some simple details about the specific situation and any particular triggers (events or words that started the emotion). These notes should be made without prejudice, in other words without blame or judgement. All you are doing is outlining in more detail the FACTS about the incident e.g. “Having argument...he said I'm just like my mum”.

Section four is for noting the physical effects of the emotion; did your heart race?, did you sweat ?, were you tense ?, were you suddenly energised ?

Section five asks you to note any thoughts that were prompted by the emotion. This section is particularly important as often in the heat of the moment the emotional part of our brain takes over and our whole thinking process is altered. Learning how differently we think when we are emotional is a priceless tool; learning how to control these thoughts, to cool our emotions rather than fuel them. Sometimes emotional thoughts carry information about opinions or judgement's we are hiding or that need to be addressed in our lives.

Finally, section six is for you to note down any reflections or observations you have about the situation or feeling; did you behave in a way that you regret?, is this a reaction you really want to change ?, are you proud of how you coped in this situation ?, is this part of a pattern you are starting to see ?



VIEW ENTRY

When you look back and view your entries, you can look through your whole history, or you can choose to VIEW BY (top right corner) certain categories. For example, you can select to view all situations in which you were frightened, or all events that occurred at work.This will aid you hugely in being able to recognise patterns in your behaviour, in your feelings and in your life. The information will allow you to start thinking about ways in which you can avoid, cope better with, prepare for, or nurture certain reactions, behaviours or circumstances.