Five Smartphone Apps To Help You Keep Your New Years Resolutions

Whether you're focussed on setting intentions or resolutions this year, the best way to keep up with your goals is by breaking them down into smaller habits and tracking them by integrating them into our daily routines. One of our fave ways to do this is via smartphone apps, so we've put together a list of some of the best (and easiest to use ones) that will help you on your way to a focussed and purposeful 2021.

If you want to create and track new habits

Habit is your new best friend. On the app you can choose from preset habits to track- such as learning a new word, exercising or saving money, or create your own, and also change the frequency and/or duration of your desired habit. For example, you can track the amount of water you drink by setting yourself a target of 2litres a day, and log every 500ml you drink, set a timer and read for 30 minutes whilst the timer counts down for you, or receive a notification once a week to remind you to save some money! It has a super clean interface, and is by far the most comprehensive tracker we’ve used- plus you can look back at the week and see how much you’ve achieved so far!

Habit- Free (in app purchases available)

If you want to write more

Journaling has proven benefits on stress relief and productivity, but it can sometimes be difficult to know where to start. Grid Diary is a super easy app that can help you keep a diary, whether your goal is recording life happenings, practicing self care, goal-setting or achieving work-life harmony. Whichever route you chose, it is packed full of ready-written journal prompts to help get your thoughts flowing at the end of each day. 

Grid Diary- $2.49 monthly, with a free 3-day free trial or $19.99 annually with a 14-day free trial.

If you want to meditate or get better sleep

Calm was one of our best purchases of last year, by far! Packed with loads of guided meditations, soundscapes and tips, Calm is great for those just getting started with, or actively practicing meditation. As well as meditations, Calm is packed with Sleep Stories that will slowly send you off to sleep by getting you super relaxed and lost in dream worlds- one is even voiced by Harry Styles!

Calm- $13 a month or $60 a year, free trial available.

If you want to read more

Reading more was a big goal for us in 2020, and we’ll be looking to keep it up in 2021. This year, we’ll be logging our reads in Goodreads, so at the end of it we can see just how much we absorbed. Goodreads lets you set a target number of books to read throughout the year, and you can sync it with your Amazon account to automatically list the books you’ve bought (if you’re buying from Amazon of course). If you’re shopping elsewhere, you can still manually upload books by scanning them in. As well as tracking your reads, you can review, create lists and get recommendations, plus share them with your friends to create a book club!

Goodreads- free (you just have to buy books)

If you want to be more productive

If you’re looking to improve your focus, being mindful of how you spend your time is key. Eliminating distractions is sometimes the only way to get things done, and constant notifications can often get in the way of our tasks. Forest is a productivity and work timer, which is designed to get you to put down your phone in order to increase productivity. When you need to get down to work you can plant a virtual tree. If you commit to the task without being distracted your tree grows. If you can’t resist the temptation to pick up your phone, your tree dies. Over time, you’ll be able to build up a forest through your focus and commitment! Forest also partners with a charity that plants real trees, so by being productive you'll also be helping the environment!

Forest- $1.99 with optional in-app purchases.

Up next, how to get started with Veganuary.