Exam - Katherine LeBlanc | Library | Formative

Sign up for FREE

Writing in an emotional diary can help you become more aware of what causes you to experience different emotions. This can help you to be prepared for your emotional responses to different situations, and to think about how you might deal with these situations in the future.
An emotional diary is a place where you can document the emotions that you experience on a daily basis. Writing down the emotions that you experience will help you evaluate the emotional response that you’ve had to different situations and provide an opportunity for you to reflect on how you were feeling and how you responded to different events in your day.
To get a better understanding of what an emotional diary entry can look like, read the following.

Friday, June 2
Today I got up and I was in a really good mood. I was excited about my training program coming to an end soon for the part-time job I had just started and I was eager to get started on my exam review for History class. I had already begun to study the night before. I went downstairs after I got ready for school and my mom was really angry about me not cleaning up the kitchen after I came in late last night. I started to feel angry and frustrated. Didn’t she realize how hard I had studied last night? She told me to remember about her friends coming over for dinner tonight and that she would need my help. I was really frustrated. I had forgotten about the dinner and had plans to go out with my friends. How was I going to fit it all in? I was stressed because I did not want to disappoint my friends or my mom—and what about my studying?
I got to the training centre and things started badly. I got my last assignment back and my mark was only 60%. I could not believe it—I had worked so hard. I felt really frustrated. Fortunately, the rest of the morning went better because it was a review of techniques I was good at, but I couldn’t stop thinking about everything that I had to do after school. My stomach was starting to feel really tense. I needed to stop worrying about things.

Thinking about your own emotions
Try to think about everything that you did and felt yesterday and then write an emotional diary for yourself. Use the example above as well as the following questions to help you with this.

What emotions did you experience most often yesterday?
What emotions did you experience least often?
What were you doing when you experienced emotions that made you feel good?
What were you doing when you experienced emotions that you did not enjoy?
In what ways, if any, did your emotional responses affect your learning?
What strategies did you use to help you to deal with strong emotions?

15

Write an emotional diary entry (similar to the example) about your day yesterday.