mood.ink

write twice per day.
log once per year.

tutorial

log manually or use the scanner to autofill.
only date, time, mood, and habits are saved.

scan only the left page to keep your
journal writings private.

view as a spreadsheet

click any day to view more details.tap any day to view more

pen to paper

mood.ink starts with a pocket notebook, not an app. the website is optional. the notebook is the point.

buy a physical journal

start smaller than you think

starting a journal is not easy. writing about your day only comes when you want to. so don't start there. start with two numbers, and add one small thing at a time once the last one feels automatic. by about three months in, reflecting about your day feels natural.

  1. weeks 1–2

    just your mood

    a number out of 5 at the end of your day. build the habit with something you already do, like brushing your teeth.

  2. week 3

    add your sleep time

    you're already writing at night, so note the time while you're there.

  3. week 4

    now add the morning

    wake time and mood in the morning will help you reflect. the difference is night and day.

  4. month 2

    out of bed, screens off

    getting out of bed 20 minutes after you wake up can suddenly feel like hours added to your day.

  5. month 3

    a few lines about the day

    only if you want to. where you went, who you saw, one thing that stuck. (this part stays in the book. mood.ink never reads it.)

  6. month 4

    build some new habits

    journaling was always a habit you wanted to start and now you did it! you've carved out a moment in time to reflect, what else do you want to add? building new habits is compounding. add on to something you have already established, like your newfound journaling time.

start your journal see an example

finding your point in time

a notebook is a timeline you can hold. flip back a few pages and you land in a week you had already forgotten: the trip, the bad cold, the stretch where you slept in every day. the page puts you back there in a way a database row never will.

the book also has an edge. you can feel how far into the year you are by the thickness of the pages behind you.

the website only helps you see the whole year at once. if you never scan a page, the notebook still did its job.

where the website fits

paper is great at a single day and terrible at a whole year. that is the one thing mood.ink adds: scan a spread with your phone and your numbers become one stripe of color in a year-long bar. the seasons show up. so do the hard months. it is supplementary, a way to look back, never a replacement for the book.

free, with or without the book

mood.ink is free to use. if a journal isn't in the budget right now, you can keep everything right here on the website: tap the blanks on the journal page to log your moods, times and habits, and your year fills in just the same.

when you're ready for paper, the book picks up where you left off. until then, the habit matters more than the notebook.

miss a day? blanks are okay.

leave it blank or take a moment longer to reflect on the whole week. pick the book back up whenever you remember. the year bar will fill in around the gaps.

pre-order $30 letterpress journal, coming soon

mood.ink is a collaboration between
full circle press × formgiven