How happy are you today?
Happiness is something we all want. How to attain it? We can tell the things that makes us happy and things we do not like to do. For e.g. a chess player feels happy when he plays chess, some feel sad about losing a game, some are okay with playing a good game, they are not bothered about the final result. Chess is not all that there is in a chess player's life. S/he needs to interact with a lot of people, do various activities and much more. What if there is an app which can help you to keep a track of all those things that make you happy? Learn all about the completely free app Happyer from Natun Dasgupta, a former chess player.
What is Happyer?
Happyer is meant to be a personal happiness tracker (Android/iOS app) that can help you identify which friends and activities bring value to your life. Happyer lets you have organized thoughts that make you mindful of your actions thereby increasing your focus on the task in hand.
Why Happyer was made?
The year 2020 has been a stressful one due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic locked us in our houses and turned most of our relationships virtual overnight. Moreover, the uncertainty related to COVID-19 grasped us with fear and anxiety. In summary, we all can agree that 2020 has been quite overwhelming and this app was developed during COVID lockdown to fight against anxiety and depression by having organized thoughts.
Inception and Objective
My friend Vinay (software developer at Google) came up with the idea of Happyer. His extroverted life was filled with activities but he felt that something was not right. There were times when he did not feel as good as he hoped so even though he was doing activities that he liked. He realized that he did not have complete control over his mood and it would fluctuate. He started maintaining a google doc in which he wrote down the activities he performed and the friends with whom he did them. He found that he enjoyed the activities even better when he started doing this. As time passed he even started rating my happiness after performing these activities. This was a game-changer, he was not only able to understand which activities and friends brought me happiness but also which activities are more favorable to perform with a given friend thereby helping me to improve my relationships. He told me about this idea and we started working on it in March 2020 (initial COVID lockdown). After working on it for several months, we were able to publish in Apple Appstore and Google Playstore.
How can the app help one as a chess player?
We all can agree that it is essential in chess to have organized thoughts to determine the best move at any given position. As a chess player, it is crucial to have a healthy mind/good mental health. Recently, we were shown in the mini-series 'The Queen's Gambit' how Beth Harmon used meds to visualize chess on the ceiling. The meds helped her to focus, organize, and reorganize her thoughts by staying up all night. Using this app, one can not only beat anxiety and depression but also improve one's thinking skills in chess without the use of medication. You could also understand how much happiness chess brings you allowing you to adjust the amount of time invested in the same.
How can you get the app?
The app is completely free as there are no ads or in-app purchases. The links for the app are below.
Download the app: Android and iOS
Link: Official site
About the Author
Natun is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Waterloo, Canada. He has been an avid chess player during his childhood days in Kolkata and Dubai. He is passionate about promoting healthy mindful living. Some of his hobbies include playing table tennis, cricket, and board games such as Avalon.
The article was edited by Shahid Ahmed