As the new year begins, my social media timelines are flooded with people talking about New Year’s resolutions. Year after year, I try to set my own goals, mostly unachievable and unattainable goals that I end up giving up on after a week. This year, I am determined to set goals that I will be able to follow through on. The best way to do this is to set realistic goals and to find ways to hold myself accountable. Since my phone is on me at all times, is there a better way to hold myself accountable than to track my goals through apps? Here are some of the best apps that you can use to help yourself follow through with your New Year’s resolutions!
Drink More Water
If you ask any of my friends or family, they will tell you that I am dehydrated 24/7. I have tried for years to drink more water, and it never seems to work. I have dozens of reusable water bottles, I’ve set daily and hourly reminders to drink water, and I have even had an iPhone wallpaper that told me to drink water, all to no avail. This year, I am determined to drink more water, so that my iced coffee isn’t half of my daily liquid intake. To help myself do this, I downloaded an app called Water Reminder, that sends you reminders and even syncs up to your Apple Watch. The app allows you to set goals for water intake and even allows you to log the number of ounces you drank of other beverages, like tea, coffee, or juice.
Exercise and Eat Healthier
2020 is the year that I want to be kinder to my body. If you’re like me, it can be pretty difficult to find a consistent workout and diet routine, and going to the gym every day seems impossible. I’ve had FitBits, multiple gym memberships, and whole plans set up to help me lose weight, but I ultimately end up falling short of my goals. Holding myself accountable, and integrating exercise and dieting into my daily routine, whether that be from walking to class every day, or going to the gym every other day, is my main goal. To help me accomplish this, I downloaded Lose It!, which is an app that I have had for almost a year now, but I am finally taking the time to commit to it. The app lets you set goals based on when you want to have the weight lost by, and gives you a calorie maximum that you should be consuming in order to reach your goal. You are able to log calories, as well as exercise, and after consistent logging, it adjusts the date that you will reach your goal. For extra money, you can track the amount of carbs, proteins, and water that you are taking in, but the free version works so well if you are just trying to make healthier decisions.
Learn a New Language
I took four years of Spanish in high school and loved it. But ever since coming to college, I haven’t kept up with my foreign language speaking, and have forgotten a decent amount of vocabulary. Getting a minor in Spanish just doesn’t work for my schedule, and I don’t want to have a pay a bunch of money to help me learn a new language. To help myself keep up with learning a new language, I downloaded Duolingo, an app that you have probably already heard of. The app is pretty aggressive on getting you to come back every day to keep learning languages, so you never have to forget that you have the app downloaded. You can learn a variety of different languages, and the levels are personalized based on your previous knowledge. You can keep leveling up to different vocabulary and grammar lessons, and the app lets you re-take previous chapters so that you don’t have to worry about forgetting any of the vocabularies that you learned.
Be Mindful
As a college student trying to juggle school, relationships with family and friends, a job, clubs and keeping up on all your resolutions, it’s hard to take time to relax, de-stress, and just take a moment to breathe. This year, I want to find ways to de-stress and meditate. I have always struggled with meditating because I never know if I am doing it right. So, I downloaded Calm, another free app that is all about helping you be more mindful, whatever your mood is. While you get more options from the app if you pay a subscription, there are still options for you to use if you want the free version instead. My personal favorite feature is the guided breathing, where you set a duration, and the app will tell you when to breathe in, when to breathe out, and when to hold your breath. This helps you center yourself, relax, and take a few minutes to do something good for yourself.
Save Money
2020 is the year that I need to save money. I’m going to make my first big-girl purchase, and get a nicer car than the one I have now, and I also am moving into my first apartment, and both of these things are pretty expensive. If you’re like me, your money seems to fly out of your pocket faster than you can keep track. The main perpetrators of taking my money are Dunkin, Chipotle, and Amazon, but who can resist the student Prime discount? I want to be able to have money to treat myself (obviously), but also be able to afford car payments and monthly rent. Digit is a free app on the app store that can help anybody with budgeting, or planning to save money. You can track the amount of money that you are putting towards things like vacations, rent, and even just a rainy day.
I hope all of these apps are going to come in handy, and help you like they are helping me! Happy 2020, and good luck with your resolutions!
Image Credit: Digit photo