7 apps to help you start off the new year right
Many of us make New Year’s resolutions at the end of December. We say we’re going to commit to budgeting our money better, getting in better shape, improving our sleep habits, quitting smoking, or completing countless other resolutions. When the rubber meets the road, though, it’s easier said than done. These seven apps will help you keep up with your New Year’s resolutions, so you can start 2016 off right and keep going with a better lifestyle throughout the next 12 months and beyond.
Rest smarter with Sleep Cycle
Better sleep is a goal we often strive for, but don’t know how to achieve. With Sleep Cycle, you can make your morning wake-up routine smarter. The app analyzes your slumber by the sounds you make moving around, waking you up when you’re in the lightest sleep phase. This helps you feel more rested and relaxed when you wake up, and the optional $1.99 per year subscription to the Premium service will give you sleep trend reports so you can tell how well you’re resting throughout the night. Sleep Cycle is available for free on the App Store.
Get whipped into shape with Carrot Fit
The biggest rage in fitness is the seven-minute workout, which challenges your body with 12 high intensity 30-second exercises with 10 seconds of rest between each set. Who better to egg you on through this taxing exercise session than the malevolent robot, Carrot? Carrot Fit is available for $2.99 on the App Store, and includes a step counter, weight tracker, workout calendar, along with an Apple Watch companion.
Organize your days with Wunderlist
If you really want to become better organized, Wunderlist is a great to-do list app to help you achieve that. You can create multiple lists of tasks, along with subtasks, notes, files, and comments. For tasks that have deadlines, the app allows you to set due dates and get reminders, so you don’t forget. Wunderlist is a free download on the App Store, with in-app subscriptions to get more features.
Quit smoking with Smoke Free
One of the most often made New Year’s resolutions is to quit smoking, but it’s not so easy to pull this one off. With Smoke Free, you can get motivated by seeing how much money you have saved since quitting, how many cigarettes you’ve kept away from, and how many hours of your life you’ve theoretically won back by quitting smoking. Smoke Free doesn’t cost anything to download on the App Store, but there are in-app purchases to unlock daily missions and other features to help improve your chances of quitting smoking.
Keep up your water intake with Water Alert
Drinking more water is an important step to becoming more fit, and it will also contribute to better alertness and productivity. With Water Alert, you can set how much you should be drinking each day and then track your progress. The app provides you with notifications to help keep you on task with your water intake throughout the day. Water Alert is free on the App Store, with in-app purchases to remove advertisements.
Budget your money better with Mint
We could all stand to do better at managing our finances, and Mint makes that easy. The app and Web service integrates with your bank, credit cards, and investments, helping to automatically track your spending habits and give you a complete financial picture. You can easily keep track of your spending, create a budget you can stick to, and stay up-to-date with your spending. Mint is a free download on the App Store.
Eat healthier with Fit Men Cook
Eating right is the key to better fitness, but it can be daunting to figure out how to cook more healthy meals. Popular food blogger Kevin Curry has released Fit Men Cook to help provide you with easy-to-prepare healthy recipes and meal plans, along with a proven method to cook once and eat healthy meals all week. Fit Men Cook is available for $0.99 on the App Store, with monthly or yearly subscriptions to get the additional Meal Planner Pro feature.
These seven apps will help you achieve your goals in 2016. The key to keeping New Year’s resolutions is to make them reasonble and approach them in small steps, and each of these apps provides you the support and motivation you need to do that.
