While technology can cause stress and anxiety in our lives, it also can bring us more joy. Many devices and apps were explicitly created to entertain us.

Joy Through Meditation and Reflection

Everything around us seems to be getting more hectic and stressful. If we aren’t worried about getting the Coronavirus, it’s a volatile political climate we are immersed in.

Mobile devices have been a boon to discovering mindfulness. Learning about meditation is easier than ever. Download an app like Headspace, Gaia, or Calm, which guide you step-by-step into the world of introspection.

These apps are all highly rated and have their own flavor or approach to meditation. Pick one that matches your style.

The meditation app Happier encourages users to reflect upon and share pleasant moments in their daily lives. It’s geared towards beginners and offers “Grateful” prompts each day with questions like, “What made you smile today?” and “What made today awesome?”

The beauty of using technology for something like this is the ease of use – your phone is in your hand every day. It makes it easier to take the time to focus on the good you see every day.

Joy Through Helping Others

It is no secret that one of the easiest ways to bring happiness to our own life is to help others. Fortunately, technology also provides an easy pathway to find community service opportunities or volunteer organizations.

Platforms like GoVolunteer connect nonprofits with individuals who are looking to use their abilities to help those in need.

Another one is GoFundMe, which allows people to give back through donations to people or organizations. There are GoFundMe accounts set up for everything from helping pay medical bills to assisting people to recover from natural disasters.

Joy Through Healthier Habits

Getting started with healthier habits is hard. We all know the benefits but putting regular exercise or better nutrition into our daily lives can be tricky. Luckily, some apps are designed to help you create and follow through on new habits or set goals.

Streaks or Tally help you set goals and then allow you to easily track your progress, as well as give you reminders and notifications to keep you going.

Joy Through Music

Music is good for the soul. Smart speakers and smartphones give us access to music that fits our mood at any given point and time.

Platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, and Pandora allow us various options for regular access to any music genre you want. Each service has its own unique character.

You decide: do you want to pay a monthly fee to get whatever you want, explore new and old music, and download it to your device? Or, do you want to listen to music from your phone for free, and commercials are no big deal?

How do you use technology to bring you joy? What are your favorite apps that make you smile or ease your anxiety? We would love to hear about your favorites, so please share them with the community!