Learning to use my phone as a tool for knowledge and self empowerment
I must confess, I am very obsessed with my phone. I spend more time than I would like to admit scrolling through social media and watching shows. But on the plus side: my phone is very cutesy and beautiful, and I’m trying to make it a more positive environment! I’m trying to replace Instagram and Netflix with apps that help me learn, grow and feel at peace. Here are some of my current favs!
1. New York Times
Starting out, my very favorite thing ever: the New York Times app! To be honest, I can only afford it because my school pays for it (best use of my UW tuition money!), but a subscription could be a good addition to your wish list as well. Every day it has personalized news stories for my interests. You can customize it to show anything from breaking news to political analysis to the best vegan recipes! There’s also a tab dedicated to all the games. I’ve been especially loving the Connections and Mini Crossword recently. Possibly my favorite feature is the podcasts; you can listen to all of their podcasts and audio news recordings! I just love how everything’s in one place and the app is very clean and aesthetically pleasing, with the cutest widgets for your home screen! I feel so much more informed and educated now. I seriously learn so many new things every day. NYT app = genuinely my favorite thing ever.
2. Mantra
I recently discovered this app that has daily positive affirmations. I’ve been trying to bring more positivity and joyful energy into my daily life and I completely recommend this app for anyone who’s on their self love journey with me! I have it set up to send me a new affirmation ten times a day, but it can be more or less depending on what works for you. They have customizable themes with different backgrounds, colors and fonts, which translate to the widgets as well! So you get both a gorgeous design and a flow of day brightening and inspiring quotes. What’s not to love? There is a premium option, but I honestly think the free version provides everything you need!
3. Apple Reminders
Possibly unpopular opinion: the Apple reminders app is so slept on. Like many people, I didn’t use it for a long time because I didn’t understand how it worked or how to make it actually effective. After watching some Youtube tutorials, I have become truly obsessed. You can make different lists for different areas (school, work, financials, etc) and customize the colors and everything! My favorite feature is that you can put in a date for each item on the list and it will auto-sync to your apple calendar. I very much recommend taking the time to learn how to use this app–it changed my to-do list habits and I’m so much more on top of things now.
4. Finch
This productivity and self care app is simply the cutest. When you download the app you get a little bird that you get to name and dress up! The bird grows with you as you complete tasks, do meditation exercises and reflect on your mental wellbeing. The app helps you set guided goals or create your own goals and accomplishing them helps your bird grow and get presents. There’s also reflection prompts you can write about, guided breathing exercises and lots of other cute activities to de-stress. I love being able to set my goals and feel supported while working toward them. This app is so adorable and makes me a lot more motivated both to be gentle with myself and to get stuff done!
5. Widgetsmith
This holy grail of an app has been with me for over four years now. I love nothing more in life than things that are cute and aesthetically pleasing, and thanks to this app everything on my phone now is! You can customize widgets for both your lock and home screen to match your personal color scheme or aesthetic. They have widgets for weather, calendar and clocks, reminders, music, step goals and more. You can also make them with photos or text if you just want a simple quote. The colors and fonts are completely customizable and there are lots of examples and tutorials on Youtube and Pinterest.
I highly recommend all five of these apps, especially as a college student. It’s a stressful and overwhelming experience and it’s important to balance productivity with rest. It’s definitely a learning curve, but I love to feel educated and cheerful after being on my phone, instead of insecure or unsure. I hope these apps can bring you the same feelings. Happy scrolling!!