eHappiness: Top 5 Electronic Tools for Finding Joy in Life
1) “The Happiness Project” Email
Gretchen Rubin, author of New York Times bestseller The Happiness Project, puts out a free daily email sharing lessons from her year spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific studies, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier. This is high-quality stuff. I love Rubin’s analytical mind and refusal to be Pollyannaish. She goes deeper in examining what brings about day-to-day peace as well as long-term fulfillment. You can sign up separately to receive a daily inspirational quote email, also good stuff.
2) “The Happiness Project” Toolbox
If you really get into the principles espoused in Rubin’s book and blog, you can create your own happiness project. The Happiness Project Toolbox can help. It’s a website offering a free collection of eight tools: Resolutions, Group Resolutions, Personal Commandments, Inspiration Board, Lists, One-Sentence Journal, Secrets of Adulthood, and Happiness Hacks. The best part about the site is that it allows you to collaborate with others. Studies show we’re more likely to attain our goals when we make them public and enlist support.
3) Values.com Email
The non-profit Foundation for a Better Life will send you a free daily quote if you sign up at their website, values.com. I find these quotes truly helpful and unusual, rarely sappy or cheesy. They inspire me to be compassionate, adventuresome, generous, and to think beyond life’s everyday stressors.
4) “Live Happy” App
Live Happy is a positive psychology iPhone app developed by Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of the book The How of Happiness and psych professor at UC Riverside. It includes activities in categories ranging from expressing gratitude to savoring beautiful moments to setting goals. You can take a survey to determine which activities you should focus on first. My only complaint is that I wish the app pushed out reminders to you to accomplish your goals, such as filling out your gratitude journal daily. And it does cost $9.99, but that seems a small price to pay for happiness (and a lot cheaper than a single therapy session!).
5) “Track Your Happiness” App
I like the Track Your Happiness iPhone app because it: a) Pings you throughout your day (by text or email) and asks you to evaluate your level of happiness given the activity that you’re performing at that moment (eg, hanging out with a friend, exercising, working); and b) Gives you personalized feedback on what actually makes you happy—or unhappy. The Happiness Report it generates after you’ve completed 50 surveys is not full of pat suggestions for all humankind, but rather recommendations based on your scientifically collected data. And oh, by the way, the information you submit also helps Harvard psychologist Dr. Matt Killingsworth with his research on happiness.
Also, don’t forget that simply expressing gratitude daily is one of the most effective ways to boost your happiness. Read my blog about the top 5 Gratitude apps.
PHOTO (cc): Flickr / Travis Isaacs
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