How do you feel right now, in this moment? Good, now which emoji best represents that feeling? Thyself is a free Chrome extension that tracks your mood throughout the day. It asks you to pick one emoji that represents your current feelings, and add an optional text note. Then you’re done until the next check-in.
The best part is the extension’s wide array of emoji moods, which you can customise (and define which emotion each emoji represents) in the settings. This allows more subtlety than a simple “rate your mood one to five” range. Sometimes you feel like a poop emoji; sometimes you feel like a pukey face. It turns out I often feel like a grimace.
When it’s time to rate your mood, Thyself shows you all your emoji options arrayed in a circle. You drag the appropriate emoji to the middle of the circle. If you drag it over the very centre, Thyself will also ask you to write a short note about your mood. So you always can elaborate on your state of mind, but you never have to.
You can choose exactly how often Thyself asks for a check-in, with one catch: When it’s time for a check-in, Thyself will wait until the next time you load a new web page, or open a new tab. (You can pick which one.) So it won’t load while you’re in the middle of reading a captivating Lifehacker post.
But once Thyself loads in a tab, if you ignore it, it will start loading in your other tabs too, forcing you to check in before you can go anywhere else online. When you’re done, it freshly re-loads your tab.
This can be really annoying — which is why it works. I’ve tried a lot of mood trackers before, and it’s easy to get lazy and stop responding to their alerts. Thyself gets in your face until you give it an answer. It’s tough love from a Chrome extension. If that makes you feel 😀 and not 😡, you should try it.
Thyself is made by the Wholesome Technology Company, which makes several apps to promote well-being. (They have an Instagram account that asks you whether it’s time to stop scrolling Instagram.) While you have the option to create an account for Thyself and sync your moods across devices, they promise not to track users or share their moods.
Thyself | Chrome Web Store
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