It’s that time of year again!
(“Christmas time!” yells a blissfully unaware preteen. A college student on her fifth cup of coffee laughs bitterly.)
Yes, that’s right kids, it’s that time of year when everything is suddenly due at once, finals are coming up dangerously fast, and you have no motivation to do anything. So here you are, looking for an app to help you get your sh*t together!
Some backstory: my life is lowkey a huge mess. I would love to be that girl with a cute little planner, perfect outfits and a colour coordinated water bottle, the girl we all know who has her sh*t together. Instead, you can catch me red-faced and sprinting down a hill most days, because I’m late for my bus again, or stuffing a crumpled plastic water bottle in my bag as I scramble to finish that day’s homework. Last week I ripped the crotch of my favourite black leggings and instead of throwing them out, I just started wearing black underwear underneath (#lifehack.) Basically, I’m a hot mess, if you feel extra charitable about the hot part. Why am I telling you this (apart from being a chronic oversharer?) Well, because if these apps can help get some semblance of order into MY messy-as-hell life, then hey, they can help you too!
This app is a free wardrobe tracker for your phone, as well as a great way to check out others’ street style. It takes a while to get your pictures up, but once you do, it makes getting dressed in cute outfits much easier! Bonus: in our rainy West Coast weather, it can be tough to choose weather-appropriate clothes, something this app helps majorly with.
For those of you already using some form of Google calendar, this app is an awesome update! It syncs up with what you already have on Google, but I personally like Tiny Calendar’s layout way more as it makes it incredibly easy to keep track of things.
It is so easy to blow your budget, especially this time of year, when it’s super easy to justify buying that extra coffee (you need it to write this paper!) This app helps you achieve a little bit more balance as, while it definitely can’t stop your impulse buys, it does a great job of managing your budget overall.
Real talk: this app scares the sh*t out of me. It tracks how much time you spend on your phone, and it is scary to realize just how much time we waste. I learned that I usually spend 3 hours a day on my phone, which doesn’t really surprise me, but at the same time, seeing it all laid out is a great motivator for cutting down screen time!
I’m sure some of you reading this have your own favourite note taking/list apps, but Google Keep is definitely my personal favourite. I am a Google junkie in general, but I love the cute, sticky-note style of note taking because it really helps to create a visual reminder of what you need to do.
While this app honestly isn’t the prettiest (which makes it a bit lower on my list), it is super useful. It helps you scan documents, something that may seem like a trivial detail but honestly saves so much time when it comes to school-related documents!
Again, maybe not the most ~aesthetic~ app (I’m shallow, get it over it), but this app is SO helpful for planning out your days. I especially like the way it shows travel time too, which makes it really useful if you’re going somewhere new. It is just a really practical app overall, and might be one of my favourite ways of scheduling things!
Damn, you know what I love? Not being pregnant (no shade to any mom’s out there, but I love sleep way too much for babies). This app not only helps to track daily mood and monitor your period schedule (and warn you in advance!), but it is also an awesome way to keep track of birth control. Created by Planned Parenthood, this app works with a variety of different birth control methods and is honestly a must-have for anybody with a uterus who wants to stay on top of their reproductive health.
I LOVE THIS APP! Not only does it track how well you sleep (which it syncs easily with the Apple Health App, for any iphone users) but it also senses when the best time is to wake you up. You just set an alarm for around when you want to wake up, and if any time before that the app sense you are in a very light sleep phase, it gently wakes you. Probably one my fave apps of all time (though I am a total sleep junkie, tbh.)
This might seem like an odd app to have in the top spot but honestly, if any app has made a big difference in my life this is the one. Like almost all college students, I am chronically stressed, sleep deprived and a little overwhelmed. While Insight Timer is advertised as a timer for meditating, I actually find the best part of this app to be the guided meditations. You can choose from a variety of subjects, from gratitude to sleep to stress relief, and choose from a variety of different meditations that range from about 3 minutes to an hour. I usually set aside 20 minutes before bed to meditate and choose a topic for the night based on how I’m feeling. While I haven’t mastered the art of clearing the mind yet – far from it – this app has noticeably helped me feel calmer and more in control of my life, and all I have to do is sit and breathe for a few minutes each day.
I hope these apps will help you as much as they helped me!