10 apps to help you achieve your new year resolutions

Your personal trainer is now in an app, courtesy of Nike. Their training club is robust platform filled with a multitude of workout plans that help you train your desired muscle group, whether it’s your abs or your shoulders. Our favourite feature is the short clips that demonstrate the exercise so we’re always in the right form.

There will be days where you just don’t have time to trudge to the gym. Streaks Workout solves that problem by creating flexible training programs that let you get fit anytime, anywhere. It incentives you to get in a quick workout every day by showing you your “streaks,” and it doesn’t matter if you only have 6 or 30 minutes, as long as you’re moving on the daily.

Getting fit isn’t just about hitting the gym ten times a week – your lifestyle plays a huge role too, in particular your diet. MyFitnessPal is the tool to help you track any and everything you’re putting into your body, from chips to water to meal plans. With over six million foods in their database that includes a barcode scanner, logging your diet isn’t a tedious affair anymore.

Kicking a bad habit might take more than just you constantly telling yourself that you’re on the road to quitting. Quit Genius, an app developed by three doctors, aims to help you quit an addiction with motivation and personalization. Coaches are on hand to check in on you and offer advice. You’ll also be supported for 12 months following your quit date to ensure that you aren’t slipping back into bad habits.

It’s quite radical to think about how the app Headspace has grown to become a name synonymous with mindfulness and meditation. Led by former Buddhist monk Andy Puddicombe, the app has curated plans to guide you through a series of mindfulness programs with the assistance of soothing voices and engaging animations.

The rush of a new year might see workplace woes resulting in a lack of sleep. That’s where the meditation app Calm comes in to help tackle your anxiety, insomnia, and stress amongst other mental health challenges. Its most popular program, “The Daily Calm,” will teach you a new mindfulness tidbit each day in just 10 minutes.

The award-winning app Things just hits differently compared to other to-do lists (including your smartphone’s default). It’s sleek, concise, and intuitive, making it more of a task manager than anything else. Whether you’re a power lister or just someone looking to be a little more organised this year, Things will be your best tool for 2020.

Writing can seem like a daunting task at times (trust us, we know), but Ulysses is the app that promises to help you write better. Its minimalistic nature gets rid of all the unnecessary clutter of more robust writing apps, letting you focus on the quality of your work. You can also set goals like word counts and deadlines. However, it is Ulysses’ robust editing and markdown system that really sets it apart from the default note-taking app on your smartphone.

Sometimes you need an app to help you stop wasting time on other apps. Forest helps you stay focused by using a growing tree to symbolise your time – staying concentrated on your work and you’ll see the tree grow, leave the app and the tree will die. Plant enough trees and you can even grow your own virtual forest, which will let you help plant real trees in conjunction with the charity Trees for the Future.

Perhaps one of your resolutions for the coming year is to bring more kindness and empathy to the world. The SG Cares app is the perfect jumping-off point if you’re looking to get into volunteerism in Singapore. Multiple events requiring the assistance of volunteers are constantly put up on the platform. If you’re not available, you can donate to a cause of choice.