Accountability isn’t just one thing you do and you forget about it. It has to be done over and over again for effectiveness, to make it a part of you.
Many individuals don’t fully understand where accountability starts, why it is important or what it actually is. You may understand it is important, but do not know how to implement it and just pray it will happen overnight.
Praying (hope) is actually good, but in this case, it is not a way forward. It has to start with you. You have to hold yourself responsible for outcomes in circumstances. Once this is achieved, you’ll notice that you’ve become highly effective in the tasks you embark on.
Change is never easy, doing things you are not used to can get uncomfortable, the uncertainty, what will happen next?… Fact is, breaking old habits and forming new ones is hard, but achievable when you decide to do all you can to make it happen and put in the work.
We can do all this on our own, with our inner power. With accountability apps/habit tracking apps, it could be simpler. Think of these apps as a guide, a map, your personal companion. All of these apps will help you track progress on your habits, as well as keep you motivated throughout your habit-building journey. Here is a list of the top ten apps to improve accountability in our daily lives:
Contents
Top 10 Accountability apps
Habitify
Habitify is one of those accountability apps that will keep up with the progress you are making on your journey of change. Though it has a few features, it is quite useful in fulfilling what it was created for.
All you have got to do is put in the habits and check-in before each day’s end to monitor how you are doing. Habitify then comes in and keeps track of each habit and how you’re progressing.
Let us say, for example, making sure I do 5 push-ups before taking a shower, take the stairs on my way down or tell my better half how much she means to me daily.
This app has a full version that allows you to make over 90 habits and keep track of each of them. That number is excessively high for the things we do in the day but yes, the app offers a variety for you to track.
Pros
- Simple easy to use interface.
- Quick navigation.
- Privacy of all things, what goes on in your day is known to you and only you alone.
In case your mobile phone supports fingerprint technology, you can use your fingerprint to unlock the Habitify app or you could set a pin to unlock it.
Habits are very private. Hence privacy surely must exist. There are a few apps that offer privacy, so this is where Habitify shines through.
Speaking of payment, whereas other habit apps charge a monthly fee, Habitify only charges a onetime payment for usage.
The app also comes with a Dark Mode feature to ease the strain on your eyes and has informative charts that enable you to keep track of your habits.
Platforms: Android, iOS, Web, mac, WatchOS.
Price: Free, Premium version which is paid for.
Coach.me
Each day, we accomplish more on our phones because of the capabilities of our phones that keep increasing.
Formerly known as the lift app, Coach.me aims at helping you to form new habits. Inside the app is a list of various habits and things you could be doing regularly, and the reverse.
For example, you may want to start working out each day, form new skills, maybe you want to reduce on your alcohol intake, cut down the sugary foods, among others.
When you’re done choosing the habit(s) to work on, you set up the frequency in which you want to do this action. For every day, or however often you set your reminder.
A notification will be sent to your phone reminding you to check-in and go for a jog, or exercise, whichever it is. Do this time and again and you’ll be amazed by the results of your actions.
Additional features in the coach.me app include an online coach to hire for $14.99/week to assist you on your journey of forming your habit. The coach may be vital depending on the habit you want to stop, or form.
Your coach will check in with you regularly to ensure you’re keeping up with your habit. If you’re having trouble, they can give you ideas for getting back on track.
The app has an easy to use interface. It also has a chat feature for the habits some may find helpful when struggling to form a habit.
Price: Free, Payment to coach for hire
Habitica
Habitica is different from the above accountability apps due to the fact that it is a lot of fun. It is fun in that you choose a class, get gear, level up, and distribute stat points.
Amongst the four classes to choose from once you reach level ten are healer, rogue, mage, and warrior.
Every one of them has its own pros. A mage class can cast spells to freeze your current daily tasks, in that way, you don’t get penalized for not accomplishing them. Rogues have more perception to assist them in finding items for quests. Each level also gives you a start point to invest in your character’s constitution, perception, strength, and intelligence.
The app gives you motivation by offering reward for the completion of your tasks. Experience is achieved as time goes on, there is gold which you could use to buy stuff like equipment, pet eggs or food. It’s a great app.
Price: Free, Monthly subscription for premium
Strides
The Strides app has a different focus compared to the above apps, given it lets you track your personal goals as well as on-going habits.
Along with daily habits like working out, this app specializes on your streak of checking in to the habit, and color codes the progress you are making in red or green to give you an idea of whether you’re on the right track.
In addition, you can use Strides to keep track of the progress on a big project that includes several smaller steps, like planning a party or a multi-step project for work.
The Milestone Tracker helps you keep tabs on how each step is going and what your overall pace is for your project.
And if you want to do something a certain number of times, the app allows you to set quantity goals. For example, you can set a goal to run a lap every day or do 5 push-ups before bathing.
Platforms: iOS
Price: Free, Premium version with a monthly payment
Done
Done is a habit tracking app that aids in the creation of healthy routines by assisting you to set goals. It also tracks the progress being made.
With Done, you set a goal and track it a number of times in a day, not just once. Just like the rest, it can help you both form and quit habits.
When done setting daily, weekly or monthly goals, the app will help you keep track of your habits and tell you when you’ve achieved a goal.
Platforms: iOS
Price: Free
Beeminder
With Beeminder, In the event you’re having a hard time staying motivated to accomplish your goals, be it a daily workout, this is the app for you.
When you sign up for Beeminder, you can create your own goal or integrate it with a service, for instance, a Gmail box, that keeps track of the messages in your Gmail inbox.
Also, you can create a goal and a time for reaching the specific goal. This app will create a plan that helps you get there pronto, allowing you track your own progress.
In case you find difficulties in your journey, Beeminder sends a notification, and when you fall behind, you can set it to charge your credit card for help.
Not only will it keep you motivated to stick to your plan, but also support the service in the process.
Beeminder can pull in data from dozens of different apps, making it simple to track your progress on just about anything.
Price: Free, premium with a monthly subscription
Habithub
There exist so many different ways to build a new habit and it sticks. There is the streak method where you endeavor not to break the chain, or opt for the reward system, where you give yourself reasons to get into the habit each day.
Then, you can add new habits and rewards with the big Plus button on the app’s home page. Just add a name, a longer description, and pick a routine for your habit.
You can pick a habit, for instance jogging, or you can use a more flexible routine. For instance, when you want to start jogging, you can aim for three to four times a week.
Get this, for when you reach your goal three times within a seven-day period, HabitHub counts it as a success.
As time goes on, HabitHub will create graphs to show your progress. In it, you’ve shown your habit strength which calculates how often you reach goals, versus the times that you get lazy and skip your habits.
The punch card view shows which days you’re most active for each habit, and a history chart shows your streaks over time.
Platform: Android
Price: Free, premium with a monthly subscription
Habitbull
The HabitBull app is very good for individuals that have flexible goals like working out two times a week, instead of each day. This app has more than one daily reminder.
You are allowed to customize an alert for specific days of the week and different times.
Additionally, you can keep track of your habits with numbers. When, for instance, the desired habit is to jog 20 minutes every day, you can enter ten minutes and regardless still feel like you’re working toward your goal.
In this app, under each habit is a progress bar, that one could find motivating. It might seem shortsighted to set a target date, after all, these are good habits you’re trying to build for life.
In the target date section, the app notifies you that it takes 66 days to form a habit. If at all you can do the habit day by day for three months, you’re fantastic.
All you’ve got to do is just download the app and start using it right away.
Price: Free, premium version with a monthly subscription
Balanced
Balanced is designed to aid you in keeping track and measuring your sleep patterns, your exercise, and time you spend sitting, encouraging you to develop healthier habits.
Unlike many apps, Balanced is completely focused on healthy habits. It gets you to be concentrated on only three activities at a time so you won’t be overwhelmed as the number 3 is universal – holy trinity, a pyramid-like triangle with 3 sides.
Price: Free, premium
Habitshare app mixes a social networking site with a habit tracker, enabling you to create habits with your friends.
The social options are well done and unique, and unlike others with social networking options, there is a messaging option allowing you to chat with friends in real-time.
This allows you to motivate friends and the reverse. With it your goals become team-based.
If sharing your goals ain’t a thing for you, then you can use the option to disable the social aspect and keep stuff private.
Price: Free, premium with monthly subscription