Everybody has habits. There are good habits, like brushing your teeth and bad habits like gambling or smoking. Most people with bad habits may spend years trying to break those habits. A habit is anything that your body does on autopilot. So if you just automatically brush your teeth and have no or little memory of it after the fact, then it is a habit. People who have studied habits say that if we do something the same time every day for 46 days, we will form a habit. Some people need reminders to do things or form a habit. In the old days people would tie a string around their finger. Today there are smart phones with all manner of reminders and apps to help you form good habits and break bad ones.
One such app is Coach.me. It is a service, an app and a website. Their goal is to have you sign up for a task and set your goals. For example, I started writing 500 words a day when someone turned me on to Coach.me. They make their money by having you hire coaches to inspire you and get you past your roadblocks. So if you want to start a new habit or if you want to lose weight or quit smoking, they will try and sell you coaching services to get your through the habit forming or breaking time. There is a community with Coach.me who will send you encouraging messages.
A simpler app is Streaks. You pick 6 things you want to track and when you want to schedule it. Then the app will bug you and prompt you and notify you. Streaks is more about personal habits, like drinking water or reading a book. It is noisy enough to remind anybody to get the job done. It also gives little rewards and tracks on your calendar how you are doing.
Apple has gone all in with health trackers. For anyone who has an Apple Watch, you can track all sorts of activity, steps, sleep and even swimming. With new updates coming, Apple promises to be more aggressive in prompting people to finish their healthy habits.
For me, I use the todo app Things and I just write down everything I want to do in a day, including healthy habits. I check them off as I do them. At the end of the day, if things are not done, they move to the next day.
The App Store has literally hundreds, maybe thousands of apps to help people form and break habits. It seems to be easier than ever to become the person you want to be. I even have an app to remind me to pray for specific things. It is truly a wonderful time to be alive if you want to reshape your habitual self. Of course there are those who are addicted to their smart phone, and there are apps like Moments, to help you break that habit too. Whatever habit you want to form or break, you can do it and technology is here to help.
One such app is Coach.me. It is a service, an app and a website. Their goal is to have you sign up for a task and set your goals. For example, I started writing 500 words a day when someone turned me on to Coach.me. They make their money by having you hire coaches to inspire you and get you past your roadblocks. So if you want to start a new habit or if you want to lose weight or quit smoking, they will try and sell you coaching services to get your through the habit forming or breaking time. There is a community with Coach.me who will send you encouraging messages.
A simpler app is Streaks. You pick 6 things you want to track and when you want to schedule it. Then the app will bug you and prompt you and notify you. Streaks is more about personal habits, like drinking water or reading a book. It is noisy enough to remind anybody to get the job done. It also gives little rewards and tracks on your calendar how you are doing.
Apple has gone all in with health trackers. For anyone who has an Apple Watch, you can track all sorts of activity, steps, sleep and even swimming. With new updates coming, Apple promises to be more aggressive in prompting people to finish their healthy habits.
For me, I use the todo app Things and I just write down everything I want to do in a day, including healthy habits. I check them off as I do them. At the end of the day, if things are not done, they move to the next day.
The App Store has literally hundreds, maybe thousands of apps to help people form and break habits. It seems to be easier than ever to become the person you want to be. I even have an app to remind me to pray for specific things. It is truly a wonderful time to be alive if you want to reshape your habitual self. Of course there are those who are addicted to their smart phone, and there are apps like Moments, to help you break that habit too. Whatever habit you want to form or break, you can do it and technology is here to help.
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