How We Feel

How We Feel is a mobile journaling app designed by therapists and scientists at the Yale University Center for Emotional Intelligence to help you name and track your emotions throughout the day.

The app taps you on the shoulder (via notifications) once or twice a day, or however frequently you want it to, and asks how you're feeling in that moment. You can type it in the search bar if you already have a word for what you're feeling.

But if you need help naming it, you can browse through the emotions on the feelings wheel, which are organized by arousal (high or low) and valence (positive or negative). For example, "excited" is listed as a high energy, pleasant emotion, whereas "disconnected" is a low energy, unpleasant emotion.

Each emotion has a specific description, which is helpful for choosing between similar feelings, such as "angry" and "furious." The differences can be somewhat subjective, but I usually at least somewhat agree with their definitions.

Once you choose a feeling, you're asked what might be making you feel that way. You can quickly pick customizable tags for themes (e.g. driving, resting, reading, gaming), people (e.g. friends, family, co-workers, alone), and places (e.g. home, school, work). This has really helped me notice how certain situations and activities consistently make me feel.

How We Feel is especially handy for people with alexithymia, which can make it hard to recognize or describe your feelings.

When there's literally a log of your emotions and what caused them colorfully staring you in the face, it's pretty hard to deny the patterns that show up.

The design of the app is beautiful and easy to use as well, with each emotion taking a unique shape evocative of that feeling. It's available on Android and Apple devices for free!