Did you turn the oven off before you left the house?
We’re sure you did, but we’re also sure that might’ve stressed you out.
Stress is inevitable, and learning to cope with large amounts of it can be difficult. According to The American Institute of Stress, stress can be explained as defensiveness (acute), the burden of daily life (chronic), negative feelings and emotions (distress), and even positive feelings and emotions that require more responsibility from you (eustress). It’s important to reduce the amount of acute stress and distress by channelling negativity into positive outlets.
These positive outlets can take the shape of smartphone apps, built to help you make personal improvements through calm and careful tech tactics. It’s been said that dedicating 25 minutes of time on science-based apps have the power to reduce people’s stress and anxiety, and we’ll touch on a few great examples.
1. Headspace
If meditation is your thing, or if you want to give it the old college try, this app features hundreds of exercises that allow you to meditate in any given location. By way of audio sessions, Headspace guides users through mindful instructions. Their exercises cover physical health, personal growth, and anxiety and stress management. Developed by an in-house science department, the Headspace team has a strong understanding of both intellectual and practical meditation. Headspace is perfect for those who want to reduce stress, improve sleep patterns, increase focus, and improve personal relationships.
Download this app on the App Store or on Google Play.
2. Monument Valley
Now for something completely different, Monument Valley is an app, similar to playing a video game, which guides players to navigate an avatar through a geometrically puzzling world. Different than using meditation to de-stress, this app actually lets users channel their existing stressors into solving optical illusion based challenges. When concentrating on Monument Valley, users tend to get lost in it. This evidently clears the mind by gravitating users towards a positive visual dimension. Though challenging at times, Monument Valley eases people’s nerves by pairing an unwinding soundtrack with happy colours. For gamers and strategists, this app is a no brainer. If you want an updated version, check out Monument Valley 2.
Download this app on the App Store or on Google Play.
3. MindMeister
For stressed out businesspeople with a million things on their plate, this app clears some of those leftovers for you. MindMeister is a mind mapping invention that helps with brainstorming, task management, presentations, project planning, note taking etc. by easily organizing, prioritizing, and generating new thoughts. You’re able to create an abundance of different maps that are labelled and structured simply. There’s even a collaborative option for team projects. MindMeister is perfect for people looking to share their ideas in one space, rather than shuffling through multiple materials to get their points across.
Download this app on the App Store or on Google Play.
4. Smiling Mind
This meditation app encourages families to de-stress together. Sessions include practising mindfulness in the classroom and the workplace, further pushing the notion that meditation can take place in every setting and situation. Smiling Mind offers special programs designed for both children and adults that cover pressure, stress, and life’s many challenges. For meditation beginners, this app is perfect as it eases users into the mindfulness mood. It’s all free, too.
Download this app on the App Store or on Google Play.
5. Google Fit
If you’re concerned about your health, or want to keep your health in check and be accountable for it, then Google Fit is the stress reliever for you. As an extension of Google, this app also extends knowledge on your own body. Working closely with the World Health Organization, this app has narrowed down its formula to Move Minutes and Heart Points. These two in-app goals translate to choosing better physical activities throughout the day that serve both body and mind well. Google Fit monitors heart conditions through wearable device pairing to follow the beat of your heart rate. This helps you see the times when you get most stressed out in a day, eventually learning what stressful activities you can cut out. This app is compatible with a smartphone or smartwatch.
Download this app on the App Store or on Google Play.
6. Day One
Straying away from meditation and other exercises, Day One is a daily journal app that can assist you in thought organization and decluttering. It’s basically a place to store journal entries, while feeling the release of pouring your frustrations/heart out to no one but yourself. It also allows you to upload photos, essentially creating another image library. For the common stressed out writer, Day One was made for you. Purge oneself.
Download this app on the App Store or on Google Play.
7. Ambi Pro
If sounds help calm you, then Ambi Pro is your comforter. This ambient sound generator app helps users relax and concentrate by replacing outside noise with unique, natural sounding mixes that never repeat. There’s no chance of encountering a looped, annoying audio recording. All sounds algorithmically change. Rain drops, sea waves, and water are common Ambi Pro noises. You have the ability to mix your own ambient noise sets and save them too. Be your own stress-free DJ.
Download this app on the App Store.
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8. Calm
Instead of using ambient noises, Calm uses breathing exercises through meditation to bring the zen. This app differs from other meditation apps because it features Sleep Stories, which are stories read by pleasantly sounding celebrity figures like Bob Ross and Stephen Fry. If you want to feel like these guys are talking to you, get Calm. But more than that, there’s daily mindfulness activities and ASMR appeal.
Download this app on the App Store or on Google Play.
9. Stop, Breathe & Think
The meditator’s version of Reuse, Reduce & Recycle. This app is yet another mindful invention to keep the peace between humans. Stop, Breathe & Think centers around cultivating kindness towards others through short meditation sessions that help regulate your everyday frustrations. The default meditation is just 5 minutes so users can easily fit it into their days. For people wanting to improve their sleep patterns, this app has sleep-specific meditations, soundscapes, and breathing tips.
Download this app on the App Store or on Google Play.
10. Sleepfulness
While other apps on the list deal with more general meditation, Sleepfulness is solely concerned with helping users get a proper night’s rest. There’s four session categories: Going to Bed, Can’t Sleep, Waking Up, or Daytime that act as timezones for sleep schedules. These sessions aim to get people in the snoozy mood in a matter of minutes. Sleepfulness also includes customized insights that help individual users pinpoint where their slumber problems lie. If you don’t get nearly as much sleep as you deserve, and it results in high stress, then Sleepfulness is an app to cuddle up against.
Download this app on the App Store or on Google Play.
These apps are a better alternative to pulling out your hair or biting your nails.
We hope you find the relief that works best for you.