At the start of 2017, I determined that I wanted to develop more habit goals than achievement goals.
[featured-image single_newwindow=”false” alt=”Journals and coffee”]Image Courtesy of Luis Lierena on Unsplash[/featured-image]
A quick recap …
- Achievement or Outcome Goals – these have a deadline attached to them. For example, read 25 books by June 1.
- Habit Goals – these goals have a start date. For example, write every day for 30 days beginning February 1.
Each year, I set between seven and ten goals. These goals are a mix between personal and professional.
Whether I am setting personal or vocational goals, I use the app trackers to help me stay on target and making progress towards my goals.
Three Habit Tracking Apps
- Productive – this is a new app I downloaded at the beginning of the year. I heard great things about the app from people at Macstories and the Mac Power Users. It has a beautiful interface that makes it easy to track my habits.
The app has a simple interface which helps me select from predefined habits, or I can choose to create my own. I track everything from medicine to quiet time to water intake and walking. If you are looking for a simple, easy to use habit tracking app – this is a great one.
- Nozbe – I first heard about Nozbe from Michael Hyatt. This tool has become my task manager of choice. It's straightforward and easy to use. I use color coding for projects, and I borrowed Michael’s prefix for project types.
Each goal gets a separate project and usually contains only a few tasks at any given time. For example, I am challenging myself to write one new blog post per week and publish it to my personal blog (you are reading one of those writings 🙂).
I put a recurring task in Nozbe and then check it off each week when the work is complete. For my ritual or routine items like journaling or quiet time, they appear as a recurring daily task that I check off. It feels good to check things off my task list, and it challenges me to get things done.
- Plant Nanny – this is another app I heard about from Michael Hyatt. This app helps me track my water consumption by keeping a fictional plant alive.
So far, I have killed four “plants” which means I have not been drinking enough water over a sustained amount of time. This app helps me prepare for my summer missions trip to Mexico where I will need to remain hydrated while building a house.
The app gamified the process of drinking water to help it stick as a habit.
These are the three apps that give me a hand to start and build lasting habits. Sometimes the flaw in our thinking is that once we establish a habit, we no longer need to track it.
However, even after a habit is formed, I still track it so that I don’t lose my motivation. I do this with my daily Bible reading and with my annual reading goal.
[reminder]What are some the apps you use for building and maintaining your habits?[/reminder]
Don't Miss a Single Post!
Enter your email address to receive new content each week.