Discreet stress monitoring in real time

Hello,

I’m new to tracking and I’ve been searching the web to find either a wearable device or something small and discreet I can hold in my hand to monitor stress levels at work. The idea would be to be able to glance at the device during meetings for signs of agitation as a cue to remember to breathe. The Aero wrist monitor that’s coming out in Fall '14 looked interesting but I’m wondering if any one is happy with a device for similar use that is currently on the market.

I’ll second this request, that would be quite neato to chart and look for [stress] catalysts, to see what correlations can be detected.

I think the challenge here is “discreet.” There is a great QS talk from Steven Jonas about tracking his work stress but it involved a setup that would be too elaborate for the situation you describe. Still there might be some useful inspiration for you: http://quantifiedself.com/2013/07/steven-jonas-on-tracking-stress/

Another idea is to use a voice stress analyzer, though of course this will only give you a result based on your saying something. Here is a short article to get you started: http://phys.org/news/2012-08-voice-stress-software.html

An option for iPhone is the application SweetBeat with a bluetooth heart rate sensor on your chest.

There was a great talk by Paul LaFontaine at a QS London meetup called Fight on Wednesday.

He took a different approach by identifying common triggers in an attempt to manage stress.

Maybe a Basis wrist watch for stress monitoring? They advertise reducing “stress” via monitoring vitals via as a selling point. The sensors onboard might do the trick. What to look for is the software and display. Will the software or wrist display give us useful tools is the question.


http://www.mybasis.com/basis-fitness-tracker-product-tour/

[quote]Life is change. Basis understands that.

While we strive to always be our best, there are some days when we fall short. Fitness levels aren’t where we want them, our sleep patterns get off, or we get overly stressed. That’s just part of being human. Basis sees that data and adapts, helping to suggest habits that will help you get fit, sleep better and stress less for the long term.
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