Daylio for Songwriters: How to Set It Up (and What It Can't Tell You)
Published · by Loopin
Set up three activity groups (what you wrote, your energy, and a keeper tag you add two days later), log within a minute of finishing, and read the stats only after 30 entries. That turns Daylio into a songwriting log; here's the setup, and the limits.
Build a Songwriting activity group first
Daylio lets you create your own activities and sort them into groups. Delete or hide the defaults you won't use, then make a group called Songwriting with six activities: lyrics, melody, beat, recorded take, edited, co-write. Add one more: no writing. Logging the days you didn't write is what makes the comparison work.
Keep it to seven. Every extra icon is a decision you make at the end of every session, and a log that takes two minutes gets abandoned. If you want to know what else is going on, add a small second group with slept well, exercised and saw friends, and stop there.
Log energy separately from mood
Daylio's main scale runs from bad to great, which is pleasantness. Research on mood and creativity says energy matters as much: in the Baas, De Dreu and Nijstad meta-analysis (2008), creativity was highest in moods that are both positive and energised (happy rather than relaxed), sadness made no measurable difference, and fear or anxiety were linked to lower creativity. A 1–5 good-bad scale can't see the energy half of that.
So add a group called Energy with three activities: low, medium, wired. Now “bad + wired” and “bad + low” are separate entries, which is often where the most interesting difference in a writer's log shows up. You can also rename mood labels to words you'd actually use; “rad” rarely describes a Tuesday.
Log within a minute of finishing the session
Set a reminder for your usual writing time, not bedtime. By 11 p.m. you'll remember the session by how the rest of the day went. Tap mood, tap energy, tap what you did, and in the note write the song title and one line you liked. That's the whole entry.
Daylio supports photos in entries, so a snapshot of a notebook page works. Don't use it as the home for the actual song, though. Keep the beat, lyrics and takes in a songwriting app like Loopin, where every version of a song stays in one place, and put the same song title in the Daylio note so you can match them later.
Add a keeper tag two days later
Here's the gap in any mood app: it records how you felt, not whether the work was good. Fix it with one more activity, keeper. 48 hours after a session, listen back. If something from it is worth finishing, edit that day's entry and add the tag. Rating later matters, because today's mood grades today's work.
Now Daylio's stats can compare moods and energy levels on keeper days versus other writing days. That's the question you actually care about: not “when do I write most?” but “when do I write things worth keeping?”
Read the stats after 30 entries, and know what they can't say
Daylio shows which activities tend to appear with which moods, plus a Year in Pixels view of the whole year. Some deeper statistics sit behind Premium, listed at the time of writing (October 2026) at about $4.99 a month or $35.99 a year. Try the free version for 30 entries before deciding whether you need more.
Limits to keep in mind: with 30 entries, a pattern can be coincidence. It's correlation, so a great session may have caused the good mood, not the other way round; diary research by Conner and Silvia (2015) found creative activity predicted feeling better the next day. The effects in the research are modest and personal. And if tracking your mood makes you feel worse, stop; the songs matter more than the chart.
Frequently asked questions
Is Daylio good for songwriters?
Yes, as a mood and habit log. Create a Songwriting activity group, an Energy group and a keeper tag. It isn't built to hold lyrics, beats or takes, so pair it with a songwriting app.
What activities should a songwriter track in Daylio?
Seven is enough: lyrics, melody, beat, recorded take, edited, co-write and no writing. Add Energy (low, medium, wired) and a keeper tag.
Is Daylio free?
The core app is free. At the time of writing (October 2026), Premium is listed at about $4.99 a month or $35.99 a year for advanced stats, goals and backups.
How long before Daylio shows a pattern?
Wait for at least 30 entries. Under 10, most patterns are noise.
Can Daylio tell me which mood makes my best songs?
Only if you tell it which songs were good. Add a keeper tag 48 hours after each session, then compare keeper days to other writing days.