Track your period and your relationship will thank you.

So here’s something I never thought I would announce on a national news website: I’m off the pill.

(Relax, Mum – there’s not a grandchild on the way.)

A few months back – six, actually – I decided to step off the pill train. It was a quiet dismount, no song and dance, no impassioned speeches about how or why.

I just felt that after close to a decade of being completely and utterly shocked every month when my period arrived – What? This, again?!–  it would be kinda nice to know it was coming. Get back to basics.

So, I decided to ditch the one thing that was turning me into a lazy menstruator, and take myself off the contraceptive pill. I would reconnect with my body. I would cut the cord to those bitter little pills. I would return to nature. I would be earth woman extraordinaire.

So, I did what any iPhone-dependent millennial would do, and downloaded an app.

Image: Supplied.

My period-tracking app is called Eve, and it's equal parts annoying and accurate. Move over Siri, my new personal assistant knows me better than many of my human friends. *Sobs*

Basically, there are two areas of input from the user: firstly, you track your period from the first day to the last in the app's calendar. This way you can review your cycle, and pretty much pinpoint the exact day you're due.

Secondly, you regularly log a variety of symptoms. Daily, weekly, or as I prefer, 'whenever I remember'; you rate how you're feeling in terms of food, sex, sleep, skin, mood, bloating, and other PMS symptoms. The nifty part about the log is that you can start tracking trends in your own body around your menstrual cycle.

(For example, 48 hours before my period is due, I will - without fail - have a tantrum. Last month it was about Doritos. Who knows what will set me off for September.)

This aside, the best part of the Eve period tracker is that I can pretty much tell, to the day, when to expect my period. And more specifically, when to expect the Monthly Meltdown.

And for someone in a long term relationship, that is great news not just for me - but for my partner, too.

In the same way that I was consistently shocked each month when my period arrives (WHAT? TODAY? AGAIN? WHEN WILL THIS STOP?), my long-suffering boyfriend was shocked each month when, for no good reason, I would start screaming at him over an empty bag of Doritos. Or a kitchen sponge. Or Mondays.

Was it us? I used to think. Was it him? Was it me?

Nope, says Eve, period tracker and/or relationship saver. It's just your hormones.

The Eve 'Cycle Scope' is updated daily, and will give you up-to-minute reviews on just how monstrous you are expected to be for that day. Check out my scope for today:

Huh.

So anyway, I promise you that getting in touch with your sensitive side will reap more benefits than booking 'Netflix and binge-eating barbeque Shapes in bed' into your calendar in advance. It can also give your partner plenty of warning to batten down the hatches (and bags of Doritos).

Eve sends out a little alert a week before your period is due, complete with topic emojis such as <dancing lady in red dress>, <glass of red wine>, and <exploding volcano>. Charming.

Screenshot it, send it on to your partner, and the hard work is done. All they need to do is gear up in their fencing outfit and hope for the best.