Whether its mindfulness, stress management, self-awareness, or your fitness routine— there’s always room for personal growth. Although these tasks may initially seem daunting, there are simple ways we can continue to improve upon ourselves with the help of technology! Are you looking for a way to relieve stress on the go, a helpful meditation tool, or an alarm that helps you feel well-rested? There’s an app for that!

Colorfy

Mindfulness is an important practice that can equip people with the ability to cope with physical and mental stress. By teaching you to lean towards difficult experiences instead of suppressing them, mindfulness has been proven to improve levels of anxiety and depression. Art therapy through coloring is a great mindfulness tool to relax your mind and reduce feelings of tension and turmoil.  “Coloring is a great stress reliever because it is a mindfulness practice that allows you to focus on a simple task, which draws your attention away from yourself and your worries and into the present moment. The ability to stay calm and think clearly in times of stress will improve your well-being, said Health Initiatives health educator Sarah Morales.” This app provides the benefits of mindfulness coloring right on your smartphone. Within the app are hundreds of templates of animals, characters, patterns, and mandalas to choose from. Colorfy is a great way to slow down and practice mindfulness in any situation: from your couch to the tech trolley. To learn about additional ways to incorporate mindfulness into your daily routine, check out healthinitiatives.gatech.edu/mindfulness.

JOOL

Do you ever feel like your life is snowballing and you are unsure how to manage it? Having trouble finding the source of your stress or mental discomfort? Self-management and self-awareness are important to your overall well-being, as they help get to the root of these issues. Moreover, self-awareness is linked to greater happiness and greater self-transcendence— heightening our abilities to overcome the personal limits we set for ourselves.  Enhancing our self-management and self-awareness can help us achieve our goals, but it can also be difficult getting started. Fortunately, there are many tools which can help us develop these personality traits, like the JOOL health app.  JOOL is a personal life coach that combines the science of purpose, advanced technology, and predictive analytics. The app provides motivation to keep you on track, helping you work through your problems and achieve your personal goals. With insights such as “what makes you tick?” and a daily journal, the app also encourages self-awareness and helps you track your growth.  To find out more about the JOOL app and its many well-being and performance benefits, check out healthinitiatives.gatech.edu/jool !

Forest

Time management is something you’ve heard about it, talked about, and you may have even taken classes on it. But, time management is easier said than done. With dog memes and cat videos all over the internet, it can be hard to avoid procrastination and focus on the task at hand. The Pomodoro Technique is a simple task management method that is used to overcome procrastination. Health Initiatives health educator Elaine Miller said, “This method is great to remind you to take breaks but also keep you working productively.” The method consists of using timers to set a specific time period to focus on the task at hand (usually 25-40 minutes), followed by a specific amount of time for a break (usually 5-10 minutes). The Pomodoro method is proven to alleviate pressures from time, reduce interruptions, and enhance concentration allowing you to focus on what’s important.  Forest is a Pomodoro-style app that is designed to help you focus and reclaim your concentration. When you want to focus on something, you start a timer, which plants a tree. The more tasks you complete distraction-free, the larger your forest grows! By including beautifully-animated trees rather than just a simple timer, Forest provides an extra incentive to stay focused. For information on programs that can help you reach your time-management goals, check out visit healthinitiatives.gatech.edu/mental.

Sleep Cycle

When’s the last time you woke up and felt well-rested? Sleep is crucial to your overall health, and most college students aren’t getting enough of it. “The need for sleep is substantially underestimated," according to Tiffiny Hughes-Troutman, director of health behavior. "So many college students power through on insufficient sleep thinking that they are fine, but then accumulate a sleep deficit that can lead to mishaps, accidents, and a lowered quality of life,” said Hughes-Troutman. The Sleep Cycle app encourages you to be more mindful about how much sleep you get, while also helping you feel more rested when you can’t quite squeeze in those eight hours. The alarm clock app analyzes your sleep and wakes you up in the lightest sleep phase to evoke the feeling of a natural alarm clock. But of course, the best thing you can do to improve how rested you are is to get more sleep! To learn more about the importance of adequate sleep and some tips on how to sleep better, check out healthinitiatives.gatech.edu/ sleep.

Insight Timer

Stress is everywhere however, there are many ways to manage stress and reduce its negative effects on your health. Meditation is a stress-management method that is proven to reduce stress. During meditation, it’s easy to focus and eliminate the tangles of thoughts that may be crowding your brain and causing stress. The Insight Timer application is a great stress-management tool. This meditation app features ambient sounds, personalized presets, and milestones for tracking your daily practice. There are over 12,000 guided meditations, music tracks, talks, and courses. From the beginner to the expert, Insight Timer is a great simple way to incorporate meditation into your daily routine. To find out more about meditation and relaxation techniques, check out healthinitiatives.gatech.edu/mindfulness

These apps are a great way to start or continue a path towards improving your overall well-being, but you don’t have to do it alone! Georgia Tech Health Initiatives is dedicated to helping the campus community on the path to achieving your healthy lifestyle goals.  If you want to find more ways to practice healthy behaviors and engage in on-campus activities check out healthinitiatives.gatech.edu.