How you track your period is a deeply personal choice, but with so many apps and other options of tracking it nowadays, it’s natural to want to explore and learn more about different methods. Below is a list of tried and true ways to track your flow!
1. Clue
Clue is an app that several of my friends and I are particularly partial to. As my best friend says, it doesn’t just track periods, “it tracks everything.” Clue allows you to input your moods, your cervical fluid, your body pain (like cramps and headaches), and your sex and sex drive. It has a slew of customizable tags you can add on, such as skin problems, stress, cervical position, and pregnancy test results. It also lets you track when you’re experiencing PMS and will use your past data to show when you should expect PMS, your period, and your fertile window. You can even record your Basal Body Temperature and whether or not you’ve taken your birth control.
Clue is great because it’s super user-friendly and effective, and it doesn’t scream traditional femininity; it’s very gender-neutral yet still aesthetically pleasing in its simplicity. It’s important to me that my tracking app isn’t covered in flowers and butterflies, and Clue’s description in the App Store guarantees that it doesn’t have any of that. It also has an optional passcode if you are worried about discretion.
2. Pink Pad
Pink Pad is another app that also has a very well-designed and user-friendly interface. It’s a little less science-y and a little more cheerful-looking than Clue, but still offers many of the same benefits, plus some extras! Pink Pad also allows you track your period, PMS symptoms, moods, fertility, temperature, and sex, and it additionally help predict your cycle. One interesting benefit Pink Pad has is its health forums, which allow users to talk about their cycles, what’s normal for them, and what’s not. Pink Pad also has charts to help visually illustrate your cycle, and it even gives you the option of transferring your data from past period-tracking apps right to Pink Pad.
The app also gives you the option of syncing your predicted cycle with the Calendar already on your phone, so you don’t even have to open up the app to see it. Both Pink Pad and Clue also give you the option of getting notified when your period is about to start.
3. Traditional Calendar
“I just like checking [my period] off on a physical calendar,” said one of my friends. “I feel like it helps me see it.” This is the first way I ever tracked my period, and I have to say, it was pretty easy and effective!
Calendars are a super simple and quick way to visually track your period, not to mention accessible for pretty much anyone. If you want to use calendars but still want a way to track your moods, you can write your moods down on the calendar or in a journal, or even pair with this method with a mood-tracking app. My other friend that uses this method simply remembers her moods and has a feel for when her moods indicate PMS; it may take some time to get to know your body and moods that well, but if you can, go for it! Some online research will also allow you to figure out your fertile week (which typically occurs about two weeks before your next period), and looking back at past months in your calendar will help you learn to predict your cycle.
There are plenty of other great tracking methods, but after polling those who have periods in my circle and looking online, these three seem to be the most popular choices. How do you track your period? Do you use any of the methods above, or is there another option you prefer? Let me know in the comments below!
Cover image courtesy of Shutterstock.
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