‘Smart’ Ways to Keep Your New Year Resolutions: There’s an App for That

So you got a smart phone for Christmas. Like you, I held out. Not wanting to succumb to those pesky data plan fees.

Then one day I was planning a lunch date with a friend. She whipped out her iPhone and quipped, “Aren’t you going to get out your pencil and paper?” We had a good laugh and I won’t waste time here defending the myriad of uses for pencil and paper.

I will, however, attempt to help you start the New Year off right by suggesting ways to utilize your handy new device. If we’re going to be one of those people with our heads down, eyes entranced by the screen glow of an assimilation cyborg, let’s at least click on more productive apps than Angry Birds.

The Eatery lets you crowd source your food choices. Photograph each meal, rate how healthy it is and track your intake. It’s a social app. So friends can see what you’re eating, give their two cents on its nutritional value and keep you accountable to healthy nutrition goals.

Fitness Buddy provides exercises and stretches that can be tailored into your own personal workout plan. It includes an exercise log to track your progress.

The smart phone function I use most is the calendar. (Ahem, see above.) But I’ve also discovered Paperless. It’s a list app that allows me to keep running lists of everything from groceries, movies, office supplies, action items, etc. It replaces all those scrapes of paper and is always with me. So whenever I pop into Target for a jumbo pack of toilet paper, I can easily see what other items I might need while I’m there.

I’ve heard rave reviews about Evernote as a great app for organizing notes, recipes and saving websites. It’s on my list to try this year. If you use it, please share your review in the comments.

Goodreads is a great tool for recording books you’ve read or want to read. You can read and write book reviews and share what you’re reading with friends.

The phone app has a handy barcode scanner to quickly record a title for future reference. So go, now, and be my friend on Goodreads.

I’ve recently read about apps that can help with stress and anxiety. In this amped up world of packed schedules and looming deadlines, an app that provides moments of mental health seems worthy of attention.

Mayo Clinic offers a Meditation app to relax and refocus and an Anxiety Coach app to assist with a wide range of fears.

Unstuck is like having a life coach in your pocket with a variety of tools to help overcome many of life’s problems.

Getting adequate quality sleep seems an increasingly difficult problem for many people. Sleep Cycle is an app that tracks your sleep patterns and wakes you at the most optimum time in the morning. I’m thinking it’s not noon. So don’t get your hopes up.

If 2013 is your year to overcome these dreadful addictions, I’m in your corner, praying for your long-term recovery.

Hopefully these handy apps—Live Strong My Quit Coach and AA Companion—can help you along the way. Because no amount of diet and exercise apps can improve your life more than winning the battle with nicotine and alcohol.

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