7 Self-Care and Productivity Apps That Have Enriched My Life
For both android and iOS users
I don’t think I’m the only one who started spending more time on my phone due to the pandemic. Most of it was wasteful watching Netflix and YouTube when I could have been doing more productive things with my time.
In addition, my daily self-care routine was falling by the wayside because I just couldn’t be bothered anymore and that was the moment I realized something needed to change.
Wanting to improve how I used my time and spend more time on self-care but knowing that I couldn’t cut my phone time out of my life completely, I searched for apps that would improve my situation and get me back on track. These 7 apps have made me happier, more productive, and focused and made claim back the all-important time I had been wasting before.
1. Alarmy
Alarmy is the best app I found to wake up early every morning. I am a morning person but the problem was if I want to get up at 6:30 am I used to start keeping alarms in the interval of 5 minutes from 6 am. It was disturbing my sleep as I was in the mindset there is still five minutes more to sleep.
Over time, I realized it was not a good way to getup. At that time I came across this Alarmy app — It really changed my morning as I wake up now with just one alarm and it makes my day productive.
There was even a survey conducted by Amerisleep where they found that early risers are more productive and have a good quality of life.
How this app will help you to wake up on time?
As you set your alarm you can add missions and when you complete those missions then only your alarm gets dismissed. There are different missions like — solve a math problem, shake your mobile, scan the barcode or snap a photo of the same place to dismiss the alarm this is available in the free version.
In the premium version, there are many good facilities and even there are two more missions like — type a motivational quote or move your body right away and take 10, 20, or 50 steps to dismiss the alarm.
This app will be very useful if you want to get up on time and start having more time in your daily routine. The free version will also work best.
2. Gratitude
It is said that — Real happiness lies in gratitude. I am writing gratitude in this app for the past year. It has literally changed my life. You don’t need a new thing to be grateful for that’s what Niklas Goke said. As people try to be creative when they start a gratitude journal but you can be thankful for the same thing 100 times.
How this app will help you to be thankful?
This gratitude app will remind you to write a thankful note for things that made you happy. It even has a 7, 14, and 21 days gratitude challenge where you can start with small.
You can even create a vision board by adding images and caption and set a reminder to look at your vision board daily.
The best tip is instead of setting a reminder just take a screenshot of your vision board and set it as your wallpaper or home screen. So, that you constantly notice your goals and which will help you to stay focused and productive.
3. Focus Plant
This app is one of my favorites as it will help you to be productive and stay away from your phone while you are working.
It uses a Pomodoro technique. First I was using Focus keeper it was the same kind of app but it was not visually appealing so I switched to Focus Plant. It works in this way:
- Decide a task to be done.
- Set the Pomodoro focus length (eg. 25 mins), focus session (eg. 4 sessions), and break length (eg. 5 mins).
- Work on the task.
- End work when each session timer ends, take a break.
- Start working again when the break timer ends.
- Take a long break after finishing all the Pomodoro sessions.
How this app will help you to be more productive?
As you set your timer and start working this app will collect raindrops and grow plants. While your session is on you can’t use your mobile. If you used your mobile then your session will just collapse and you will lose your plant.
The beautiful thing about this app is it feels so good when you see those plants grow and you realize that how much you have worked.
If you are the one who spends more time on the phone and works less then this app will make you productive by focusing on your task and beat your phone addictions.
4. 21 Days Challenge — Life-Changing Habits
This app is simple yet effective. I am in love with this app as it has cute small challenges for 21 days that helped me to start my day on the right foot.
It is said that 21 days challenge is a myth and James Clear says it takes more than 2 months or exactly 66 days to start a new habit. Even I believe it's a myth but I do believe that you need something to start so this will help you to start your foot in the right direction.
How this app will help you to form a new habit?
This app has 21 days challenge for — Morning Routine, Study, Confidence, Kindness, Mental wellness, Sleep schedule, Self-care, Productivity, Social Detox and so many more.
The most welcoming part is you need to scratch the card to know your task of the day. It feels so satisfying when you scratch those cards. The tasks are small and cute for example in the morning routine you have a task like:
- Listen to your favorite music playlist to put you in the good mood in the morning.
- Send a good morning text to someone you love.
- Open your windows for fresh air and let some sunshine in.
In this way, it has a cute little task that will make you happy, energetic, and introduce yourself to a new life. As James Clear said it takes more than 2 months to create a new habit then this app has a restart option so as you complete the 21 days challenge start with the next 21 days challenge simple.
5. Water Reminder — Remind Drink Water
The water reminder app should be present on every mobile. This app which I described is available for android users but iOS users can use app like — WaterMinder or Aqualert.
According to Quench survey, it is said that — nearly 80% of Americans say they don’t drink enough water. As we all know the importance of water but we still forget. Even I am the one who forgets to drink water even when the water bottle is in front of my eyes but this app has literally helped me to be hydrated.
How this app will help you to drink more water?
If you want to stay productive, boost your energy, and nourish your skin then start using a water reminder app. As it will calculate your water intake and remind you with notifications to drink water and be hydrated.
Expert says that mild dehydration will sluggish your productivity. So, stay hydrated and drink a cup of water right now if you haven’t.
6. ActionDash: Digital Wellbeing
This app will reduce your phone addiction and will increase your productivity.
As research shows that an average persons spend 3 hours 15 minutes on the phone and a recent survey by eMarketer shows that electronic device usage got doubled among US kids during the pandemic.
This app is available on android and iOS users can use apps like — Moment or Freedom. The app will help you to manage your time and focus on your goals.
How this app will help you to be focused?
In this app, you can stop notifications and set a time limit for your social media app.
This app will give you the whole summary and stats of your day and week that how much time do you spend on the phone? How many times did you open the particular app and so on?
By looking at those stats you realize your usage of mobile. The best thing to reduce mobile usage is to set a timer limit for social media and stop all the app notifications except a few apps like water reminder, gratitude, and so on.
7. Skillz - Logic Brain Games
This is one of my favorite game apps. This app will help you to improve memory, attention, and logic skills.
I personally love to solve puzzles as it is fun to solve them. By getting the results at the end it feels that I have achieved something. Even research by the University of Cambridge states that the Brain training app improves user’s concentration.
How this app will help you to improve your memory?
This app is a pack of fun logical games. I bet, you won’t stop after starting this game. You just get in the flow of this game. After completion of the first puzzle, you jump on to the next and then next, and it's interesting.
It has many types of puzzles like — find the odd one out, match the cards, arrange words in order, and so on. But the only thing to keep in mind that you don’t keep playing for hours. So, set a timer using ActionDash or Moment to give a proper span of time to each app.
Conclusion
I’m loving using these apps because they have made me more productive and put my life back on the right track. Spending time on my phone now feels positive when I am using apps that are improving my life not adding negativity to it.
I hope you’ve found some apps on this list that will improve your life too.