Working on yourself is an important and constant task. Want to know how self-improvement apps can help and which ones are best?
Between a busy work life, making time for friends, and keeping up with your family members’ schedules, focusing on yourself can be tough. Life is busy, which leaves very little time for self-reflection and when needed, self-improvement. Thankfully there are, yes, apps for that.
Read on as we discuss 3 ways that self-improvement apps can help you achieve a better you for a more successful life and more relaxing and stress-free days!
1. Feel Lighter and Energized
There are tons of apps out there, and a major category within all app stores is fitness. Fitness apps can be ones that train you for 5ks or marathons, ones that help improve flexibility, or ones that help you fit in a 5-minute yoga flow between your 3pm coffee break and 3:20 meeting.
Fitness-focused apps like Under Armour’s MyFitnessPal is great because it walks you through choosing goals and makes it easier to achieve them by providing the right features. Some of the top life coaches say that being the best “you” only comes when you look and feel your best.
MyFitnessPal was rated as a #1 diet app by Consumer Reports, and has been a #1 health and fitness app for 4 years straight. On the app you can check the calorie count of certain foods or scan barcodes for quick access, track your physical activity by connecting the app to your other wearable devices, choose from over 350 exercise, and even track your progress on graphs.
Other ways to ensure you’re the best you is to keep your mind sharp by spending your time well. This could be by reading a book instead of watching a movie, or catching up with friends over coffee instead of playing a game on your phone. The more you can use your mind to think and problem solve, the sharper it will stay.
Being on your phone is usually not the best way to stay mentally sharp, unless you’re playing an educational game like Lumosity or Duolingo. These are both brain training games that can improve your memory, attentiveness, flexibility, and speed of processing. Lumosity have over 50 cognitive games developed by scientists that are meant to challenge a specific cognitive skill.
Duolingo is another popular brain-game app that helps you learn a language through gamification techniques. The more words you learn, the more points you earn and the more you level-up. Both Lumosity and Duolingo offer daily “workouts” that are aimed to keep your brain thinking and improving.
If you’ve had a long day and just want to relax, do so in a way that betters yourself. Headspace makes meditation and mindfulness simple by offering personal meditation guides, themed sessions on stress and sleep, and exercises for meltdown-worthy moments. Meditation has been shown to improve focus, reduce stress, and boost compassion, so get on it.
2. Save Time by Keeping Organized
Staying physically and mentally sharp is a sure way to self-improve. Another way is by staying organized so you save time, make your deadlines, and ensure things don’t fall through the cracks. For this, there is the wildly popular note-keeping app, Evernote.
You can use the app on your work computer to jot down to-do’s and projects due, and then revisit those same lists on your train ride home on your phone. The nice thing about Evernote is that your notes are always in one easy-to-access place. An app similar to Evernote in that it helps you accomplish your goals, is HabitBull.
Unlike Evernote, HabitBull is not a note-taking app, rather it helps you set goals and reach them. This can be a goal of quitting smoking, losing 10 lbs, or stopping your nail-biting. After you set your goals, or the habits you want to break, the app will remind you consistently. It also has a community aspect to it which helps you stay motivated and pumped.
Don’t have specific goals you want to reach? The app BrightNest can make you healthier and happier by offering tips and tools to shape your home and simplify your life. The platform was featured on HGTV, Wired, and Reader’s Digest, and offers everything from basic maintenance tasks to fun cleaning tricks.
You can use the platform by exploring random topics like “Purchase Fire Extinguishers,” or “Holloween Cleanup made Easy.” You can also search by topic like “handy,” “creative,” or “green.” BrightNest is devoted to inspiring and empowering its users to take great care of their homes.
3. Keep Improving with 24/7 Support
It has been scientifically proven that having external motivators can help you stick to and achieve your goals. Think of things like joining a running club to help you run, or having your mom check-in on you to make sure you spend some me-time.
When on a self-improvement mission, it’s important to have the support you need. Having goals and big steps is important, but they can be hard to keep up and easy to break.
To keep yourself on the right path, use an app like Coach.me. Its 3 services include a habit tracker, habit coaching, and leadership coaching. The prices vary from free to $249 per month, and they give you access to over 700 coaches that are ready to help solve workplace problems or help you achieve career success.
It’s like your own personal life coach in the palm of your hand. Two other great apps offering really good coaching and external support are Way of Life and Happify. Way of Life can help you achieve all your goals by letting you track your lifestyle choices and habits, see patterns, and make changes accordingly.
All it takes is a few minutes a day, and the app will help you stay on track by sending you powerful reminders. It’s so popular it has been featured in Forbes, The New York Times, Lifehacker, and Health Line. And of course there’s Happify, which describes itself as a science-based happiness games and activities platform.
It’s used by thousands that swear by the app’s ability to effectively increase their emotional health and well-being. Its users all use it for the same purpose, to self-improve, and it helps to know that others are there with you on their own journey.
So next time you’re looking to break a habit, save time, or for a support team to back you on your self-improvement mission, turn to self improvement apps!
