My iPhone is less cluttered with apps these days as I’ve been slowly distilling its contents down to the essential few.
It’s easy to get trigger happy with all the promises offered by those shiny boxes in the iTunes or Android Store.
As Spider-Man would likely tell you about your smart phone, with great power comes great responsibility. I try to use mine as a platform and a means to help elevate my capabilities and state of mind. Two of the best apps I’ve found that help me to achieve this are The Five Minute Journal and Productive.
1. The Five Minute Journal. The paperback version of this product was my favorite gift to hand out this past Christmas due to its simple little layout. They follow the haiku-like constraints of starting your day off with a quote, followed by:
- 3 things you are grateful for
- 3 things that would make the day great
- A daily affirmation
- For the evening you submit 3 amazing things that happened during the day
- And one thing that would have made the day even better
What makes their app such a standout is their elegant and thoughtful use of the available technology to help improve the daily journaling experience.
Each day you can upload a photo to append to your entry. These can later be viewed in a calendar mosaic to help you recall the days when reviewing past entries.
2. Productive. This is simply a habit tracking app that had been recommended to me a half dozen times.
Why this app is a must have for me is that I’ve programmed it to poke and prod me into doing good things regularly.
The app politely nags me into doing everything I know I should be. It gently asks me to brush and floss my teeth every morning, after suggesting that I make my bed. Before leaving for work it ensures that I’ve taken my multivitamins and drank a full glass of water.
Every time I oblige my robot philanthropist, I get rewarded with a delightful chime and reassurance that my day is about to go perfectly.
I don’t know why it’s taken an app to get me to run stairs every evening. But it’s working. My hamster paw is hitting that lever every time to receive my next reward.