Why Ears Up asks how awake you are, not how you feel
Updated November 6, 2026
In short: mood trackers are good at mood. If you have been using one to keep track of sleepiness, you have probably been translating, deciding that a frown means heavy and a neutral face means foggy. Ears Up skips the translation. Its one question is how awake you are right now, answered on five plain-language steps, with the things you tried and the times sleep caught you kept alongside.
Sleepiness and mood are different things
You can be in a good mood and fighting to stay awake, or low and wide awake. When one scale has to carry both, the record blurs. Keeping sleepiness on its own scale keeps it honest.
Sleepiness is also different from fatigue. Sleepiness is the pull toward sleep. Fatigue is feeling drained without that pull. Ears Up's scale is about the first.
The scale
Built around the day
- By the hour, not just by the day. Your rhythm shows when in the day your dips land, with today drawn over your usual.
- Times sleep caught you get their own quick log, separate from a rating.
- What you tried, like a nap, coffee, a walk or standing up, with a calm read on what tends to be followed by a more awake stretch.
Using both is fine
If a mood journal helps you, keep it. Ears Up is small and quiet on purpose, and it sits happily alongside one.
Questions
Can I use a mood tracker to track sleepiness?
Some people do, by redefining the mood faces as a sleepiness scale. It works, but it means translating every entry. Ears Up is built for sleepiness directly: one question, how awake are you right now, on five plain-language steps.
What is the difference between sleepiness and fatigue?
Sleepiness is the pull toward sleep, the feeling that you could nod off. Fatigue is feeling drained or low on energy without that pull. They often overlap, and keeping them apart makes a diary easier to read.
Ears Up: Daytime Sleepiness
A gentle, private daytime sleepiness diary. One tap to note how awake you feel, a quick log when sleep catches you, and a calm picture of your daily rhythm. No account, no streaks, no scores. Free with one banner ad, which a single one-time purchase removes. Coming soon to iPhone and Android.
See Ears UpEars Up is a self-awareness journal for general wellness. It is not a medical device, it does not diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or condition, and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Talk with a qualified clinician about excessive daytime sleepiness, and do not drive or operate machinery when you are fighting sleep.