Mindfulness, Happiness, and Well-being: There’s An

App for That!

Meico Marquette Whitlock @amindfultechie

Beth Kanter@kanter

On a scale of 1-5 (none to high): What’s been your level of anxiety recently?

Poll

Internal Apps

“Eat a rainbow everyday.” -John Haydon

Health & Fitness

Fitness Pal● Free website and app● Tracks diet and exercise.● Uses gamification elements to

motivate users. ● To track nutrients, users can

either scan the barcodes of various food items or manually find them in the app's large pre-existing database.

● Integrates with other fitness apps.

● myfitnesspal.com

Fitbit● Activity tracker.● Wireless-enabled and wearable

technology devices that measures data such as the number of steps walked, heart rate, quality of sleep, steps climbed, and other personal metrics involved in fitness.

● fitbit.com

Desk Yogi● Take an assessment and it

provides a customized “playlist” of yoga stretches you can do at your desk.

● Provides reminders and tracks your progress

● Individual and organizational versions

● Organizational versions includes challenges

Movement At Work Apps

● Apps for a variety of desktop platforms - MAC/Windows/Linux and mobile phones that provide prompts, reminders, suggested body stretches or eye stretches. Also rack your progress

● Ergonomic desks, keyboards, and chairs as well as standing desks and stands.

https://www.wholefamilyliving.com/apps-to-help-you-move-more-at-work/

LifeWorks LifeWorks is an employee assistance program (EAP) that brings together employee and corporate wellness capabilities with employee assistance and social recognition programs, and a private social network.

● Health coaching online or by phone● Health risk assessments● Online nutrition and exercise trackers● Gamification-based team challenges● Financial wellness help● Talk to HR!

More Examples:https://www.getapp.com/blog/top-employee-wellness-apps/

Night Shift on iPhone

● Changes the number of Kelvins or brightness of the screen to warmer light that is less likely to interfere with sleep

● Can automate when it turns off or on

● Not scientifically validated

Mindfulness

Calm● App and web site that provides

methods for sleep, meditation and relaxation

● Gives you visuals and sounds of nature, plus guided meditations

● Free and premium versions

Headspace● The basic techniques of guided

meditation and mindfulness● Beginner-friendly● Provides a full library of guided

meditations by topic - anxiety, stress, gratitude, focus, positive thinking, happiness, and more

● Tracks your progress● Connects to a large community of

app users for group meditations● Free and premium version

Insight Timer● App (apple + android)● For individuals and organizations.● Largest FREE library of guided

meditations.● Meditation timer.● Shares 50% of all income with its

teachers.● Offers paid courses, playlists, and

premium features.● insightimer.com

Gratitude and Appreciation

Grateful● Gratitude journal app that is easy

to use and incorporates gratitude prompts

● Based on scientific studies on gratitude and its impact on wellbeing

Hey Tacos● Integrates with Slack● Facilitates shoutouts,

celebrations, and other fun

Happiness

Super Better● Gamified the process of building

happiness ● Complete short and simple

activities and you gain points and super powers

● Developed by well-known game designer Jane McGonigal and accompanies a best seller book with same title.

● Scientific studies of app users showed increase in happiness

Happify● Evidence-based activities and

games can help reduce stress, overcome negative thoughts, and build greater resilience by providing effective tools and programs to improve emotional well-being.

● Happify is the single destination for effective, evidence-based solutions for better mental health.

Shine● Helps users create a self-care

program to reduce work related stress and anxiety

● Links users to a community of people working on reducing stress and anxiety - becomes your accountability buddies

Connectivity & Relationships

Fabriq● Prioritize & track your most

important relationships● Get reminders to reach out

consistently● Keep notes & reflections about

your interactions

Know Your Team● Designed to help new managers

manage their teams better by building trust

● Tools for 1-on-1 meetings, feedback, daily stand-ups, icebreakers, and more

● Knowledge Center based on data from 15,000+ people.

● Community of more than 1,000 managers.

5 Love Languages App● Based on book’s framework on

how to give and receive love● Provides nudges and reminders

on phrases and actions

Moodnotes● Track your mood and identify

what influences it● Develop healthier thinking habits● Learn about “traps” in your

thinking and how to avoid them● Bring new, helpful perspectives

to situations● Increase your self-awareness● Reduce your distress and

enhance your sense of well-being

Donut Bot (Slack)● Slack app that randomly matches

people on your team or in your organization to have coffee

● Design to improve team relationships

Technology Addiction

ScreenTime Genie

● Developed by BJ Fogg and Stanford Behavior Science Lab

● Asks you questions about your goals and motivation and provided a customized set of tips

https://screentime.stanford.edu/

Forest App● App (apple-paid + android (free) +

chrome extension)● See how much time you’re

spending on your phone and which apps you’re using most.

● Change your relationship with your phone, one day at a time, through guided coaching sessions at your own pace.

● See your family’s device usage and establish screen-free times.

● https://inthemoment.io/

Siempo● Free app (android only) + Chrome and

Firefox extension● Helps un-addict you from your

smartphone by replacing an Android device’s homescreen and giving you more control over notifications.

● Automatically hides the distracting parts of popular websites

● Displays a slider that you have to move to access distracting sites

● Displays rings when you've spent too much time on a distracting site

Momentum● Free chrome and firefox

extension● Reminds you to identify your daily

focus and to-do list on your New Tab page

● https://momentumdash.com/

Stayfocusd● Free Chrome extension● Helps you stay focused on work

by restricting the amount of time you can spend on time-wasting websites.

● Once your allotted time has been used up, the sites you have blocked will be inaccessible for the rest of the day.

● http://www.stayfocusd.com/

Facebook News Feed Eradicator

● Free Chrome extension● Replaces your entire Facebook

news feed with an inspiring quote● https://west.io/news-feed-eradicator/

Schedule & Task Productivity

Calendly● Free 1-on-1 appointment

scheduling tool● Paid features● Calendly helps you schedule

meetings without the back-and-forth emails

Acuity Scheduling● Paid 1-on-1 appointment

scheduling tool● Helps you schedule meetings

without the back-and-forth emails● Accepts payments for paid

appointments● Free with Squarespace

IdoneThis

● Tracks team tasks● Based on the psychology of small

wins● Free and premium versions● https://idonethis.com/

Trainual● Award-winning onboarding,

training, and process management software for organizing, communicating, and scaling knowledge.

Email Tamers

Unroll.me● Free with a catch● Instantly see a list of all your

subscription emails. ● Unsubscribe easily from

whatever you don’t want.● *Spam alert

Boomerang● Plug-in for Gmail + Outlook● Schedule an email to be sent

later. ● Easy email reminders.

Streak CRM for Gmail● CRM built in Gmail● Unlimited pre-schedule emails to

send later● Create email snippets for

frequently used email text● Sophisticated mail merge

“Eat a rainbow everyday.” -John Haydon

Mindfulness, Happiness, and Well-being: There’s An

App for That!

Meico Marquette Whitlock @amindfultechie

Beth Kanter@kanter