Modern lifestyle factors such as excessive social media use, our environment, and long working hours can contribute to stress. Left unchecked, stress can snowball into a complex physical and mental health condition. However, it can be managed using everyday devices and apps.
Certain types of technology can contribute to stress, while others can help relieve stress. If you’re struggling with anxiety or stress, here are some of the best services and gadgets to try.
1. Apple Watch
A smartwatch is one of the best ways to deal with stress. If you hate constant notifications and are trying to limit your smartphone usage, getting a smartwatch is a good idea. I can do it. The Apple Watch is perfect for this purpose.
The health feature added to Apple Watch is the perfect stress buster. Here’s how you can use some features to keep your stress levels in check.
Heart rate notification: Heart rate is one of the primary indicators of high stress levels. Elevated heart rate also aggravates serious conditions such as heart disease. So you can set your heart rate threshold and get notified when you cross that threshold.
Breathing method: A high heart rate affects breathing. Shallow breathing increases anxiety due to lack of adequate oxygen supply. The Breathe app on Apple Watch allows for 1 minute of simple relaxation. Deep breathing exercises have a positive impact on your heart rate, mood, and focus. The breathing app tracks your heart health while you exercise.
Mobility: Sitting for long periods of time and being sluggish are bad for your physical and mental health. Mobility and Cardio Fitness Tracking on Apple Watch gives you an activity-based Mobility Score. Set a reminder or alarm if your mobility score is low. Take a 6-minute walk break to improve your overall health.
2. Get a virtual assistant
A long list of small tasks can eat up your time. Plus, chasing mundane tasks is mentally exhausting. A virtual assistant can help solve many of these problems. Delegating small tasks automates them. First, you can issue simple commands to your phone’s virtual assistant. Some of the most basic productivity commands that will free up your time are:
- Alarm settings
- Setting reminders
- Add or remove events from your calendar
- Create a list or schedule
- send a message or call someone
- Check the weather forecast before going out
- Book movie tickets, make reservations, find places
- real time translation
With home devices like Amazon Echo and Google Home, you can even automate household chores. For example, you can ask Alexa to start or stop your robot vacuum at a specified time. If you have a Google Home speaker, you can ask Google to find it if you lose your phone.
Your device will ring even in silent mode. Use your virtual assistant as a timer for his set workouts or control other smart his devices. With fewer tasks to deal with, there are fewer points of stress throughout the day.
3. Build a Mindfulness Practice
Mindfulness is a practice that works naturally as an anti-stress agent. Deep breathing and meditation are the easiest ways to relax. No equipment or dedicated space required. Whether on your daily commute or at work, mindfulness can help you take breaks anywhere.
Using a meditation app is great for a quick relaxing session. If you’re new to meditation, try a guided session. Apps like Calm, Atom, and Headspace have features that make meditation quick and easy.
For example, Calm has a daily meditation feature. Here you can choose meditations ranging from 3 minutes to 30 minutes. Choose a specific meditation for stress, anxiety, or sleep. Meditation timers, energizing breathing techniques, and ambient sounds can help reduce stress instantly.
However, if you want mindfulness to become a more serious routine. You can also try the Muse headband. Muse is a meditation device that tracks brainwaves, heart rate and breathing. We use this data to monitor your behavior. It then provides real-time audio cues as feedback.
4. Create a fitness routine
Physical fitness is essential to controlling stress. Exercise, sports, or any physical activity improves blood flow in your body. It also helps release endorphins and clear your mind from things. Exercising regularly improves your cardiovascular health and overall fitness. So if you are physically healthy, your mental health will also have a positive impact.
However, starting or continuing a fitness routine can be difficult. Workout apps, fitness trackers, and meal planners are at your fingertips to help you along the way. Apps like HIIT Down Dog, Strava, and Nike Run Club have ready-made workout plans. Combining workout reminders with an AI trainer makes working out at home a breeze.
Fitness trackers like Fitbits, Garmin, and Apple Watch are great for getting detailed analytics. Health data from these trackers helps you map and ultimately improve your workouts. Similarly, meal planning is an important part of fitness. Eating the right amount of calories and a balanced diet are the basic principles of staying healthy. Meal planning apps like Mealime, Plan to Eat, and Lifesum help you be accountable.
5. Try mental health apps
Dealing with stress can be difficult, especially while dealing with mental illness. We recommend getting professional help, but there are ways you can do it yourself. Anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and depression interfere with productivity and greatly increase stress levels. Self-care is therefore very important. Several free and premium mental health apps offer the preventative care you need for a fraction of the cost.
Most free mental health apps are great ways to keep anxiety, sleep, confidence, procrastination, and other issues under control. Apps like Intellect and 29K offer free modules designed by psychologists. Daily check-ins and journaling help organize your thoughts.
Apart from self-care, telemedicine apps allow you to get in touch with your therapist virtually. Self-care is a preventative and supportive tool. It cannot replace actual treatment. Telemedicine apps therefore make treatment more affordable and accessible than ever before.
6. Sleep optimization
You need enough sleep to keep your brain functioning properly, your productivity high, and your mind and body healthy. However, stressful work hours and long exposure to screens can lead to short sleep.
Limiting blue light exposure before bed can help. Stay away from your smartphone, laptop, and other electronic devices at least one to two hours before bed. This has to do with how our natural circadian rhythms work. According to the CDC, blue light from devices has the strongest impact on circadian rhythms. This can make falling asleep difficult.
If you’re having trouble falling asleep, the Calm app’s white noise meditation can help. Another way to improve your sleep is by analyzing your sleep. Get detailed reports on your sleep patterns through your smartwatch or sleep tracking app. This will help determine your sleep quality and how to improve it.
Combining multiple technologies to beat stress
By making stress management a part of your routine, you’ll be better prepared and more resilient. For example, mindfulness as a daily practice reduces stress levels while improving other aspects of life.
Likewise, a combination of fitness routines, meal planning, and sleep optimization can help you achieve peak physical health. This leads to positive mental health.
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