Choose what to track
Start with what is getting in the way of your days. Three symptoms you log every time beat ten you log now and then.
If you aren't sure where to begin, tick through the free menopause symptom checklist and keep the top three. The early signs checklist lists what people commonly note in this stage. Period dates go on every list, whatever else you pick.
What makes an entry useful?
The same four details, every time.
| Detail | Example | Why record it |
|---|---|---|
| What | Hot flash | One name per symptom, so they count up cleanly |
| When | Tuesday, 2:40 PM | Times show whether it clusters in the afternoon or at night |
| How strong | Moderate | Three steps are enough to compare weeks |
| Note (optional) | In a meeting, lasted about 5 minutes | Context you'll have forgotten by the appointment |
Keep the scale the same from day one. If "severe" means it stopped you doing something, keep that meaning for the whole month.
A two-minute daily routine
- On waking: bedtime, wake time and how many times you woke.
- During the day: a tap when a symptom happens, with its strength.
- In the evening: mood, energy and stress in one check-in, plus a line in the journal if something stood out.
Logging at the time is the most accurate. If that isn't possible, do it the same evening; entries made days later tend to blur together.
Paper, a notes app, or a tracker app?
Any of them works if you keep using it.
| Paper diary | Notes app | Her Good Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setting up | Draw your own columns | Type a template | Pick your stage; the Log menu fills in |
| Logging a symptom | Write the time by hand | Type it out | One or two taps, time added for you |
| Counting at the end | By hand | By hand | Charts and weekly averages |
| For the doctor | Bring the diary | Show your phone | A PDF of the dates you choose |
Reading it back after 4 weeks
4 questions get most of the value out of a month of notes:
- How many times did each symptom happen, week by week?
- Does it cluster at a time of day?
- Where do the strong days fall against your period dates?
- Did the nights you logged as broken come before your low-energy days?
Write the answers down as plain numbers ("9 hot flashes in week 3, 6 after 2 PM") and add the questions you want to ask. What the pattern means is a conversation for you and your doctor, and how to prepare for the appointment covers that step. If something worries you before the month is up, book the appointment anyway.
Setting it up in Her Good Days
Choose perimenopause as your stage and the Log button puts Hot flash, Period, Sleep, Mood and Brain fog first. Pin anything else you want in the top five, hide what you don't need, or add your own symptom with the same strength scale, time and note.
An evening reminder is there if you want one: all reminders start switched off, and the lock-screen text never names a symptom. Insights shows charts and weekly averages, and the doctor report turns any date range into a PDF. More on this stage: perimenopause in Her Good Days.