5 Types of Phone Apps To Help Improve Your Lifestyle
When we think of apps in our phone, we often think about social media platforms such as Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, TikTok and many more. However, what about the apps that helps in keeping track of our physical health, mental health, and our tasks? In this write-up, I break down the 5 types of apps that can help in improving and handling our daily life:
*All apps mentioned below are available on both Android and iOS.
Water intake tracker
We all know about the importance of drinking water. At some point, all of us have been advised on the ideal water intake we should be having daily. For example, some health experts have recommended following the 8x8 rule — eight 8-ounce glasses (2 litres) a day.
When we get swamped with our tasks, we may forget to hydrate. There are several water intake tracker apps available, but I was reminded of the Water Reminder — Daily Tracker app (Android | IOS). This app will help you to calculate and track your water intake, how much water your body needs, and reminders can be set for you to drink water to fulfil the daily quota. It can be measured in both imperial or metric units, depending on what you are used to. You can also customise the frequency and timing of the notifications.
This app might sound a bit too plain and practical — are there any fun ways to track what I drink?
The Plant Nanny² Water Tracker Log (Android | IOS) answers that question! Each glass of water you drink will go towards growing cute plants in the app. Aside from keeping track of your water intake, you get to see your plants grow together as you both ‘consume’ water! This app keeps track of how much water you drink, motivates you to drink water daily and has a fun reward system to prevent our low water consumption. A daily schedule as well as notifications can be set so that you can collect, grow plants and take care of cute plants to get hydrated together!
Mood tracker, journaling
I was introduced to the CBT Thought Diary app (Android | IOS) as a means of tracking my emotions. This app acts as a journal, allowing the user to keep “thought records” that guides you through the steps of identifying, challenging, and reinterpreting negative thinking patterns. In documenting your emotions, it helps you to re-evaluate the way you think. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) involves learning to identify negative and distorted thinking patterns, ultimately finding ways to improve and further work on ourselves.
Following the theme of journaling, another app that comes to mind is the Daylio Journal: Self-Care Bullet Journal. What stands out about this app is its flexibility. It can be used to help you track anything based on your needs — from your fitness goal, meal plans, mood, practising gratitude. The purpose of this journal is to encourage better care of your physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
Schedule, planning
In the past year, I have been recommended multiple videos of students sharing that they utilise the Notion app for their notes. The layout of Notion is clean and straight to the point, making it easier for everyone to categorise their notes or keep track of their tasks. Diving further into the functions of this app, it can also work as a hub for teams to connect with one another. The team wiki function can aid in collaborations, categorising tasks, keeping a company log, to tracking progress. This app is available on both desktop and mobile.
Having a structure is important in preventing communication and making sure tasks don’t overlap. I was introduced to the Trello app when a team of us were set to collaborate on several projects together. I use the app on my desktop, but it is also available on mobile. A team of us can be added to a Trello board, where lists and cards can be created on it. The cards function allows tasks to be added, deadlines to be fixed, and members added to the card can comment on the card to communicate with each other about their tasks. I personally find this app useful as it provides an overview of everyone’s tasks and it is another way I can reach my teammates.
Budgeting
I personally do not use a budgeting app, as I normally jot down my expenses in my notes app. However, several Malaysian publications have recommended the You Need A Budget app. This app provides for a free 34-day trial. This app is available both on desktop and mobile.
Motivational
Fellow writer Vinothini Ananda Krishnan had shared with me about apps that she personally uses in her daily life. One of the apps she recommended using is the Gratitude app (Android | IOS). This app provides reminders of positive affirmations, and a private space to write out your thoughts. Users can also create a vision board that can track goals they wish to achieve. There is a Free and a Pro version, depending on your needs.
Each of these apps recommends different ways of improving one’s lifestyle. I hope that these apps, depending on your needs, will help to kick start healthier habits for you too!
