I’m not a creature of habit. I find it hard to get into a routine and stick with it, and that’s partially because I think that our personal lives change too much from day-to-day to get us into habitual practices. It’s also partially because I’m worried about how boring my life might be if I get stuck in routine. However, I do think that if I’m not getting habitual, I might as well get organized, and for me that’s sort of the same thing without feeling the same day in and day out. While doing this I can run into some problems because I’m naturally forgetful and great at putting things off. So, since I, like most people, have a phone for an additional appendage, I started investing in apps (don’t freak, I got all these for free!). These types of apps claim to help better your life, and while it took a lot of trial and error for me to find ones that work, I do believe some apps, especially the ones I’m about to tell you about, are worth a try.
JouleBug – this one is for my ecowarriors! I love the environment and take every chance I can to do something to reduce my waste footprint. JouleBug is an app that offers a ton of cool ideas on how you can become more environmentally friendly. You can share your accomplishments with others on the app and participate in challenges that push you to be the best for the environment that you can possibly be. Plus, getting the badges is super rewarding and you can totally take pride in that.
Habit – Habit is an app that you can totally cater to your own goals. It essentially asks for an activity that you want to turn into a habit, and one of mine is making my bed. Then it allows you to set a time where doing this activity would be most convenient for you, such as 7 am, and then gives you a nice little notification every day to do this thing. It also keeps track of how often you do it in a month, year, or since downloading the app. Since getting it, I’ve stayed way more on top of the little things that benefit my day-to-day life and all without feeling like I’m getting caught up in a bunch of things that feel repetitive.
Moodpath – this is an app for tracking your mental health. The app asks that three times a day you report how you’re feeling (it could be both good and bad) and to reflect a little on why you’re feeling the way that you are. After 14 days it evaluates what you’ve submitted and offers you personalized help relating to your responses. I find this incredibly useful and I feel a lot more connected to my emotions now that I’ve been consciously giving them attention. University can be hard on any student and having an app like this to help begin tackling stress or other negative feelings can be game changing.
Morning! – A 5 Minute Journal – this is my aesthetic app (you’ll see what I mean if you decided to download it). It’s a gratitude journal that you use twice a day; once when you wake up and again before bed that allows you to reflect and unpack your day. In the morning you talk about things you’re grateful for, what you want out of the day, plus a cute little affirmation to lift your spirits! Then in the night you reflect on what went well, and what could have gone better. The app tracks what you write everyday, so you can get a monthly view of your days if you need reminders of things to feel grateful for. It also features a daily quote for another dose of inspiration if you’re feeling down.
Notion – the last app that works well is Notion. It’s free for students and accessible on mobile and desktop alike. It’s basically a digital agenda but so much more. You can change the features to fit your needs, like goals, notes and drafts, a grade calculator, and more. It’s great to keep everything you need for school life at the tips of your fingers, which is really convenient if you’re one of those students who forgets their planners at home all the time (like myself)!
Maybe not all these apps are going to work 100% for you, but I strongly believe that there’s some sort of app out there to help the scatterbrained students like myself, and these ones are the best, at the very least, to use as a stepping stone into the plethora of self betterment apps out there!