3 wellbeing apps worth checking out

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We’re very lucky that wellbeing is a big priority at Vertical Leap – we have a wellbeing channel in Microsoft teams where we share content, plus monthly wellbeing sessions where we learn about different mental health conditions and, most importantly, how to support each other.

As we all enjoy technology too, I’ve been testing out some wellbeing apps to see how we can combine our love for digital with our wellbeing practice. Here are some of my favourites:

Daylio

Daylio is a really solid app – all you have to do each day is select how you feel and tap which activities you’ve done. These activities can be tailored and expanded for your daily habits, so I’ve made: ‘drink tea’, ‘drink herbal tea’, ‘pets’, ‘master’s degree’, along with others. It’s easy to use and gives some genuinely insightful information, for example, which activities you do most when you’re feeling a particular way.

For example, I’ve learnt that when I’m feeling less than 100%, I buy sweets, exercise less and drink more coffee, whereas when I’m feeling ‘rad’ I exercise more, drink herbal tea over normal tea and have more date nights.

It’s up to you whether you put that down to cause and effect, but it allows you to check in with your habits and see what you can do to improve your mood. It also offers the option to input goals, for example ‘drink water every day’, and offers some very satisfying charts. I’ve seen that March has been a lot better than February, and that I actually am generally happy every day, which is really uplifting! Definitely one of my favourite wellbeing apps.

Daylio app
Daylio app

Grateful

This is another super simple yet effective app. Each day you get prompts such as:

  • What are you grateful for?
  • What are you looking forward to?
  • What made you smile today?
  • What made you laugh today?
  • What made today a good day?
  • What made today awesome?
  • What was the best thing that happened to you today?
  • What made today special?
  • What’s something kind someone did for you today?

The app has a satisfying and easy-to-use interface, which also allows you to upload photos and tags to go alongside your answers. There is a pay wall after a certain amount of entries, however I personally decided that it was worth it.

You can go through your entries at any time and instantly get a mood boost from reminiscing over all of those wonderful moments of gratitude (that are so easy to forget in the hustle and bustle of daily life)!

Grateful app

Strava

Now, I’m no runner – and I don’t think I ever will be! But to keep motivated in our period of self-isolation, the Vertical Leap team has made a Strava club to track our activity levels and encourage a little healthy competition.

Unfortunately I can’t enter the leaderboard with my pursuits in yoga and Just Dance, but it’s a great way to give each other kudos and keep moving. I’ve noticed that because of this app alone, I’m pushing myself to do more yoga and dance more, and the mental benefits have been fantastic!

Strava app

What about you? Are you using any great wellbeing apps? If so, tweet us – we’d love to hear about them!

More wellbeing content

How and why we set up a mental wellbeing initiative at Vertical Leap

Book recommendations from the Vertical Leap team

Dogs versus cats – which are best?

Seren Kiremitcioglu profile picture
Seren Kiremitcioglu

Seren began her career in marketing and PR in her first year of university, diving headfirst into projects which needed writers, digital marketers, and PR outreach. Living in Plymouth at the time, Seren attended hundreds of shows across the city for local companies such as Barbican Theatre and Theatre Royal Plymouth. After quickly gaining traction with her skills and reputation, she began working professionally for newspapers, blogs, magazines, digital companies, and other online publications. Seren was soon headhunted to work full-time for the University of Plymouth’s Student Recruitment Campaigns team. Here she worked on national advertising campaigns involving print publications, large outdoor advertising, online strategy, and content creation. In her spare time, Seren writes for her own blog on mental health and disability advocacy, championing for the end of stigma and discrimination. Along with writing for several mental health and disability charities such as Time to Change, Mind, Scope, and Young Minds, she is a Crisis Volunteer for Shout Crisis Text Line. Moving to Portsmouth, Seren joined VL in February 2020 as our Social & Digital PR Executive. She enjoys bringing fresh ideas to the table, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, and thinking of ways to elevate campaigns to the next level for our clients. Outside of work, you can find Seren studying for an MA in Creative Writing, exploring nature, or watching the latest Netflix documentary with her boyfriend, Charlie, and their two cats, Teddy and Bug.

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