Most of us use our phones to see what’s happening on social media or to check our email. Unfortunately, Snapchat and Gmail aren’t doing much for our organization or our health- but fear not! I’ve taken the liberty of testing out a few apps that can do everything from helping you remember when your next paper is due to helping you relax and unwind after a long day. College life can be hectic, but these apps can help to make your life easier.
1. MyFitnessPal
If you’re looking to track your calorie intake or to track your fitness goals, this is the app for you. MyFitnessPal, powered by Under Armour, allows you to input your weight, goal weight, and activity level. This app allows you to input the food that you eat and the amount of water that you drink throughout the day. If your goal is weight loss, the app will notify you of your remaining daily calories to help keep you on track. You can also input exercise, which will then adjust your remaining calorie intake for the day. MyFitnessPal also allows you to sync to a pedometer device or use your phone’s built-in motion processor to track your steps.
2. The Homework App
This is a busy student’s best friend. The Homework App allows you to input all of your classes and assignments, and then it does the organization for you! You can see how many days or weeks you have until your assignments are due under the Due Date tab. When you click on a specific assignment, you can also view the subtasks for it such as researching web sources or creating a visual aid. The Homework App also tracks your schedule for you so that you can keep track of when your classes are.
3. Planner Pro
Planner Pro is a digital planner that can be synced between your devices. With this app, you can track all of your meetings, study sessions, day trips, and much more. The app allows you to view each day, week, or month at your convenience. You can also view upcoming months so that you can plan ahead. Planner Pro also includes space to take notes and allows you to view your tasks by project, subtask, or status.
4. Grocery Pal
We’ve all been there – you come home from the grocery store and realize that you forgot to buy that one item that you desperately needed. With Grocery Pal, this issue becomes a thing of the past. Users can input their grocery list, which is automatically categorized in the app. This way, you won’t get all the way to the produce section before you remember to grab milk. Also, the app shows you coupons and sales at nearby grocery stores so that you can stay on budget. Score!
5. Mealime
This one is for all of my foodies out there. Whether you’re a novice in the kitchen or you’ve already accepted your invitation to compete on Iron Chef, Mealime is for you. This app allows you to adjust your dietary preferences and choose from a wide array of recipes. Once you’ve selected the meals that you want to prepare, Mealime compiles a grocery list for you. When it comes time to cook, Mealime offers simple, step-by-step instructions for you to follow. The best part is that you can star your favorite recipes so that you’ll always have access to them!
6. Calm
Calm is the perfect app to help you relax and unwind at the end of a long, stressful day. Meditation and mindfulness are all the rage these days, and their benefits are simply astounding. Calm allows you to listen to meditation prompts that are designed to teach you how to properly meditate and practice mindfulness. One of my favorite aspects of the app is the home screen. You can choose from serine scenes like a beach at sunset or a rainfall in the woods. Every time you open the app, you see the animated scene and you hear the relaxing sounds. Sometimes, just listening to the calming sound of waves crashing on the shore is all it takes to unwind.