Happiness and joy. (x4wiz / Shutterstock.com)
On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your level of happiness? The desire to be happy is one of the most coveted states of being with heaps of studies, surveys and articles written about that positive emotion. In pop culture, all it takes is a great tune and some fun dance moves to unleash the happiness bug as seen by musician Pharrell’s international sensation Happy. But the million dollar question is how do we really get there? How do people increase the amount of contentment in their everyday lives, whether it be with family or at work? With a little bit of technological assistance, become acquainted with these five apps that are seeking to be a helpful solution in amplifying your level of happiness.
1. HAPPIFY
In the vein of brain training, Happify’s daily activities from quizzes, games and polls aim to help individuals improve their well being.
TELL ME MORE: Users start the Happify journey by entering a track, or area in their life that they want to improve upon. Some tracks include: coping better with stress, conquering negative thoughts, growing inner strength and more. Based on research by psychologists and neuroscientists, Happify works on five areas that are meant to boost happy living such as savoring, thanking, aspiring, giving and empathizing. Users can gain points and also share their accomplishments with other Happify folks, creating a supportive community of people that want to see the brighter side of life.
AVAILABLE ON: iOS,Web
2. URWELL
This lifestyle tracker allows users to understand what makes them happy and which parts of their lives could use a smiley upgrade.
TELL ME MORE: The expansive app covers 50 areas of life from relationships and health to work and personal growth, allowing users to rate how they are doing in each category. UrWell developers recommend starting small with a daily tracking of only a few life areas at a time. Individualized progress is visualized through graphs in addition to highlighting trends and patterns in major life areas that give insight into what makes you tick.
AVAILABLE ON: iOS
3. HAPPIER
A departure from Facebook and Twitter, meet the social network that is chock full of positivity only.
TELL ME MORE: Users post statuses and photos about instances in their day that made them smile, connecting with other fellow Happier members to support and encourage one another. Other features include a gratitude journal to track happy moments as well as short expert-led courses that focus on finding joy, satisfaction and calm in the daily milieu.
AVAILABLE ON: iOS, Web
4. THE ONION
Laughter is known to be the best medicine, and veteran satirical news outlet The Onion delivers humor on-the-go with their iPhone and Android compatible apps.
TELL ME MORE: If you are in need of a chuckle or a pick-me-up, concentrate on the phony headlines from The Onion which put a funny spin on serious issues of the day with their witty faux articles, pictures and videos.
AVAILABLE ON: iOS, Android, Web
5. PERSONAL ZEN
Using the power of ohm to calm down anxious thoughts, Personal Zen is a game that aims to help people center on the positive rather than the negative.
TELL ME MORE: Both kid and adult-friendly, Personal Zen users are on a mission to follow the path of the character – a happy face sprite- as it pops in and out of a grassy field. Lo and behold there are also angry-faced sprites in the mix, and players earn points by tracing the trail left only by the happy sprite. The psychological idea behind the game is to actively avoid the negative stimulus and focus on the positive.
AVAILABLE ON: iOS
