Studenty: New Years Resolution Apps
December 31st, 2011 § Leave a Comment
With Christmas fading into distant memory and your stretchy pants reaching their elastic limit, we are fast approaching the New Year. The time where we all pledge to become better people; new sleek organised versions of ourselves with better hair and wittier comebacks. For about a week. It turns out that you are the same lazy forgetful person you were on December 31st and your promises slowly disappear to be replaced by new and interesting vices. But never fear, technology has come to your rescue and there are a host of iPhone apps to help with whatever you want to achieve.
Lose Weight
If gym membership is anything to go by this is the worlds most popular resolution and the iPhone brings it to a whole other level. Not only can you record your intake and exercise, but you can scan the barcodes of what you are eating to get detailed nutritional information. The best app I have found is the free app from MyFitnessPal.com. You can input your weight and measurements and your ideal goal, and it will tell you how much you should be eating and exercising to achieve it at a sensible pace. After you input your calories for the day it will tell you how much weight you will lose or gain if you you were to continue for the next five weeks at that level of intake and exercise. Trying it out on Christmas day was a fairly horrifying experience. It didn’t quite get me to put down the Quality Street though.
- MyFitnessPal.com Calorie Counter – Free
Exercise
One of the main flaws in New Years Resolutions is overdoing it. Going from 4 hours of Skyrim to 4 hours in the gym is unreasonable. You’ll pull something or just find that a 2 hour workout isn’t possible once you go back to college. Mostly, you’ll get bored, or discouraged by how long it takes. Now there are apps which help ease you in to a new regime week by week, encouraging you and keeping track of your progress. One app which does this is Get Running, a program which brings you from completely unfit to running for 30 minutes in 9 weeks. This app is credited by Charlie Brooker for turning him from a pudgy, lazy misanthrope to lean, active misanthrope. There’s till no explanation for the hair.
Get Running (Couch to 5k) – €2.39
Organisation
Every year I resolve to be more organised: I buy diaries and notebooks and memo boards and pledge to keep records of everything I have to do. I’ll write a blog post every day, do my homework as soon as I’m given it and deadlines will merely signal the turning in of long completed work. To stop missed deadlines being a mocking reminder of my inadequacies, there are several apps which can help with organisation and procrastination. Awesome Note has a fun display with different sections for study notes, diary and event reminders and the option to add and personalise as many more as you like. It’s fun to play with but it’s hard to get over the fact that you just paid three quid for a digital to-do list. Much better for stopping procrastination is BreakApp which times your activities and lets you break up your work into more manageable chunks. Of course, the biggest failing of all procrastination apps is how easy they are to turn off.
Awesome Note – €2.99
BreakApp – €0.79
Learn a Language
This is a common feature of my resolutions. I love the idea of jabbering away in another language, experiencing culture that only a fluent speaker can enjoy. The problem is I’m really bad at it. After six years of French and fourteen years of Irish I still can’t speak a word of them. Maybe the problem was that I didn’t have an iPhone then. MiraiPenguin have a series of apps which bring you from complete beginner to conversational level with 50 step by step lessons, dictionary, pronunciation guides and tutors to help explain everything about your new language. You can listen to the pronunciation and then test your skills with quizzes, all for €2.39. There is also a series of more basic free apps 24/7 Tutor featuring grammar and quizzes. Much better value than the Leaving Cert.
MiraiPenguin iStart program – €2.39 – Available for Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese and German
24/7 Tutor Inc. – Free – Available for Spanish, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese and Portuguese
Give up Smoking
Although there is nothing yet that can help with my App addiction, smoking has also been taken care of by app makers. The Livestrong group have given up on the whole bullying thing and focused on smokers with their free app. It allows you to set goals and track your progress, slip-ups and cravings, randomly peppered with comforting and inspiring messages. By the time you’re through you’ll have completely forgotten how cool and sexy smoking is.
Livestrong.com My Quit Coach – Free
iPWhat other technological aids to New Years Resolutions have you found?
