My Favorite Apps for Habit Change

Life. For better or worse — I’ll rant about the glamorization of busy later — it’s crazy busy.

I know I tend to beat myself up when I set a goal and can’t even seem to manage an extra 30 seconds of breathing drills. It’s frustrating! But I learned something really important this year:

Adding change (even positive health change) to our daily habits is stressful to brains that are busy trying to just hold down the fort with the habits we’ve already built to save space, energy and time.

#science: our conscious minds can only hold around 7 things at a time…even less when we’re stressed. And if you factor in work, family, personal needs, your environment and general daily living, that doesn’t leave much space for remembering to drink water, do some breathing or choose wisely at lunch.

So I have some things for you:

1. Most importantly a reminder: You’re amazing as you are. Your heart and body and spirit are important in this world and there’s NOTHING you can do to make yourself more valuable because you’re already infinitely integral.
2. A way to give yourself a break. Leaning on the mixed blessing of technology can help you shift from  “why can’t you just get that done??”  to “Oh! My smartphone can do that!”

Here are some of my fave apps lately:

(Most of these links are iOS, but I’ve listed things that are available in Android as well! You can find them in the PlayStore.)

Habit Tracking Apps:
There are a few apps out there if you love looking at a streak of progress! I love the paid version of STREAKS because it integrates with my iOS Health App, but there are free/minimal apps like this available for Android and iOS as well!

Coach.me is another great option for habit change and you can add me as a friend if you want more accountability!

Sleep Cycle
This app tracks your sleep each night and wakes you up at the lightest point in your sleep cycle within 30 min of your “have to get up!” time. No more being jerked out of a dead sleep by your alarm AND you can look at trends over time.

(The paid version has some super amazing features that allow you to see how your daily habits are effecting your sleep!)

Cronometer
This is – by far – my favorite nutrition tracking app because it allows you to see where you’re lacking in the vitamin/mineral department as well as tracking fat/protein/carbohydrate intake. When I don’t have the brain power to think through what I should have for a snack, it’s super easy to just see what I’m missing for the day! If you don’t want to use a paid app, MyFitnessPal is a classic!

Plant Nanny
This is legit the cutest app EVER. A client told me about it and I’m obsessed. Drink water to keep your plant alive!!

And my favorite free thing every (a blessing from my business coach:)

set an alarm on your phone for 5 x day with reminders like:

• I’m am more than enough.
• Small things matters.
• I am loved and important in this world.
• I’m a freaking BAD ASS.

What are your favorite apps and hacks to free up brain space!?