4 apps to boost your happiness at work

Ditch “the daily grind” from your vocabulary and instill a sense of well-being into everything you do. Here are our top picks for apps that will help you become more productive, more purposeful, and overall healthier, in your roles, both personally and professionally.

Happier (iOS, Android; Free)

True happiness lives inside all of us, but sometimes it takes the right tools and support to pull us out of our daily stress and pressures. Happier is a brilliant app that reminds us how and why to be happy, no matter where we are.

Here’s the schooling you didn’t get in college – free courses on topics like gratitude, self-confidence, health, style and more that are all backed by science. The inspiration and tips are brief but powerful and help even the busiest people make serious improvements in their lives. Deepak Chopra teaches a few of them, and his teachings have transformed mind-body medicine around the world.

Now imagine a feed of only happy moments. That's the Happier community – a city of contagious optimism where you can upload your happy moment whenever you like and “smile” and others. Do this every day and voila – you've built a gratitude habit. By celebrating your life and others on a daily basis, you will discover that your circadian existence is far more incredible than you imagined.

The short: Whether at home or at work, Happier will help you see the world with rose-colored glasses. Change your perspective and change your life.

Instapaper (iOS, Android; Free)

Instapaper is a must-have for anyone who loves the Internet but doesn’t love Internet distractions. For every article you have open in your 25 tabs to “view later”, this app will save your faves and make them available to you offline in one space. Do you have an email too long to read? Save it for later. Find a great quote you want to remember and share? You can easily highlight any text.

The short: Avoid workplace distraction and save all your cool Internet finds in one offline place. Give them the attention they deserve on the commute, at home, or on your lunch break.

Notability (iOS, US$2.99)

Productivity meet pleasure. Pleasure meet productivity. This powerful note taking tool unleashes your hyper efficiency – integrating handwriting, illustrations, voice recording, highlighting, image captions and PDF annotation into one secure space so you can stay organised and confident throughout your entire work day.

Unlike other apps, you can sync written and spoken word while at meetings listening to a speaker. For your peace of mind, everything is password protected and auto-syncs to DropBox, Box, iDisk, or WebDAV and your annotations are ready to share with others too.

The short: Free yourself from piles of paperwork and multiple screens. This one will leave your colleagues wondering how you flew through your work with such ease.

Nike Training Club (iOS, Android; Free)

Upgrade your fitness game and empower your workday with on-demand workout routines built specifically for you by Nike Master Trainers. Choose the results you want (Get Lean, Get Toned, Get Strong, or Get Focused) and your level of difficulty (Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced) and it will customise a  four-week programme that really works - complete with step by step photos, videos, timer, narrator and rewards for every routine you finish. The exercises target multiple muscles in your body so you see peak results in no time, and the Nike+ feed lets you show off your progress with friends and trainers from around the world.

Plot twist - look out for celebrity athletes and musicians as featured trainers your routines.

The short: Rather than freestyling your workout or finding excuses to avoid the gym, have NTC do all planning for you. All you have to do is open the app and get sweating.Ditch “the daily grind” from your vocabulary and instill a sense of well-being into everything you do. Here are our top picks for apps that will help you become more productive, more purposed and overall healthier in your roles both personally and professionally.

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