Hello to all the habit hackers out there!
Over the last 10 years, Pavlok has helped hundreds of thousands of people all over the world break their bad habits and implement powerful changes to live healthier, more productive lives.
We are creatures of habit by nature, so learning how to leverage the power of habits is one of the best investments you can make.
“Getting good” at habits is a skill that literally anyone can master, and it can make all the difference between where you are now and where you want to be.
At its core, Pavlok is a behavior-change technology company. And in our digital age, our smartphones have become an integral part of our daily lives.
But our devices are not just for communication and entertainment anymore; they’re also powerful tools for enhancing our health and productivity. So we thought we’d share a few of our favorite habit apps to help you become a healthier, happier, and more productive you.
1. Pavlok App
We couldn’t start this list without giving ourselves a little shoutout. After all, we wholeheartedly believe our own habit tracking app – along with our award-winning habit tracking devices – is the best solution to help you form positive habits that stick.
We’ve also just released a brand new version of the app for iOS and Android.
So if you ever wished you had a fun, electrifying friend who would give you a small jolt every time you slipped into an old, unhealthy habit – then Pavlok is the ultimate life-changing app that’s as intriguing as its name!
Pavlok is inspired by the classic Pavlovian concept of stimulus and response, and yes, it can give you a real (though safe and harmless) electric zap! Talk about shocking your habits away!
Don’t worry, Pavlok isn’t all about the zap. It also uses chimes and vibrations for those of us who prefer a gentler nudge towards improvement. Plus, you are always in control of the intensity of the stimuli.
Pavlok helps you track your progress towards crushing old, bad habits and forming new, healthier ones. Think of it as your personal digital referee, blowing the whistle every time you go offside.
Want to wake up early, quit nail-biting, or cut down on junk food? Pavlok’s got your back!
But perhaps its standout feature is what makes it superior to its counterparts. Pavlok connects you with a personal life coach, as well as a global community of motivated, like-minded individuals competing every day to enhance their habits via the Pavlok Challenge.
Through the Pavlok Challenge, you have the opportunity to gain knowledge and draw inspiration from friendly competition, sharing strategies, celebrating successes, and learning from others’ experiences to foster a supportive and motivating environment.
This collective drive towards improvement not only enhances your own habit-building journey but also offers a sense of camaraderie and shared achievement within our global community. ⚡️⌚️💪
2. MyFitnessPal
One of the biggest struggles many members of the Pavlok community face is how to eat healthier and exercise on a consistent basis.
We get it. It’s easy to give in to the temptation of having a burger or skipping the gym in favor of watching your favorite Netflix show. Pavlok’s founder, Maneesh Sethi, even went as far as to shock himself if he didn’t go to the gym (not to mention getting slapped every time he opened Facebook).
But the truth is, to get the results you want, tracking your behavior is one of the best ways to succeed. And as the saying goes, what gets measured gets managed.
MyFitnessPal helps you do just that.
Each day simply log the foods you eat and what you do at the gym and the app will magically hold you accountable regardless of your goals.
It has a bunch of crazy awesome features to help you see how many calories you’re consuming (and burning) and which exercises are really moving the needle towards your fitness goals.
3. Calm and Headspace
In an age of endless distraction, it’s insanely hard to stay focused. And it’s even easier to beat yourself up after checking your phone for the 100th time.
Text messages, emails, push notifications, Facebook and Instagram, all fighting for our attention 24/7.
Fortunately, there’s a way to fight back – and it starts with meditation. Meditation not only helps you relax and focus, but it also increases your happiness and overall well-being.
Calm and Headspace are two of the most popular meditation apps available and they both come with some incredible guided meditations to help you reduce stress, improve sleep, and enhance your overall mental health.
However, there are some key differences between the two.
Headspace
Headspace primarily focuses on meditation and mindfulness, with a strong emphasis on teaching these practices. It offers a structured learning path, especially for beginners, with courses on various topics such as stress, anxiety, focus, and more. It also uses bright colors and animations, which can make the learning process more engaging and fun.
Headspace is also known for its friendly and approachable style of guidance. The app’s co-founder, Andy Puddicombe, a former Buddhist monk, provides most of the narration, which users often find comforting and relatable.
Calm
Calm, while also offering meditation and mindfulness content, has a broader focus. It includes a wider range of features such as Sleep Stories (bedtime stories for adults), music tracks for focus, relaxation, and sleep, and even video lessons on mindful movement and gentle stretching.
It offers a variety of voices for their guided meditations, including celebrities like Matthew McConaughey and Stephen Fry. This variety can be appealing to users who like to change things up.
Overall, Calm has a more serene and minimalist design, with nature imagery and sounds that aim to create a peaceful and relaxing environment.
4. Coach.me and Way of Life
When it comes to building great habits or eliminating bad ones, tracking your progress is one of the best things you can do.
There’s something inherently motivating about seeing that you’ve gone seven days without sugar, an entire month without lighting a cigarette, or six months straight of going to the gym three days a week.
Habit trackers are an easy way to use technology to keep track of your habits and see where things need a little more work.
Our two favorite habit trackers are Way of Life and Coach.me.
Way of Life
The UX is streamlined and friendly, and known for its simplicity and efficiency. It allows users to easily log and track daily habits with a minimalist design, offering customizations such as adding notes and setting reminders to keep users on track.
Its main feature is its visualization tool, which provides users with detailed charts and graphs of their habit data, enabling them to see trends and progress over time. However, it primarily functions as a solo tool without an emphasis on community or social engagement.
Coach.me
In contrast, Coach.me is a comprehensive platform offering tools for personal habit tracking along with an integrated community support system. Its unique selling point is its coaching feature, where users can hire professional coaches to receive personalized guidance and support, making the habit formation process more structured and guided.
5. Freedom and Pavlok Chrome Extension
Even with good habits, sometimes we just need to focus and get things done. But maintaining focus can be a challenging task, given the multitude of distractions available at our fingertips.
Two apps that can help you combat these distractions and improve productivity are Freedom and the Pavlok Productivity Chrome extension.
While they share a common goal, their approaches, functionality, and platform availability differ, offering you more ways than one to enhance your focus and productivity.
Freedom
- Freedom is a multi-platform application available on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android
- The primary functionality of Freedom is to help users eliminate distractions by blocking certain websites and apps that they find distracting for a chosen period
- Users can create customizable block lists and schedule distraction-free sessions, useful for focused work or study times
- Freedom also allows users to sync their block sessions across all their devices, providing a comprehensive distraction management tool
- However, Freedom does not have a physical component or haptic feedback companion to curb distracting behavior, like Pavlok.
Pavlok Productivity Chrome Extension
- The Pavlok Productivity Chrome extension is a tool designed specifically for use with the Google Chrome browser
- This extension connects with a physical Pavlok device, which delivers a small electric shock or vibrates to deter you from visiting distracting websites (like Facebook)
- Users can set which sites they wish to avoid, and the extension interacts with the Pavlok device to provide immediate feedback when you attempt to visit these sites
- It serves as a more immediate and physically felt reminder to stay on task compared to the less intrusive alerts of other apps
While both apps aim to help you minimize distractions and stay focused, they achieve this in different ways. Freedom offers a more extensive multi-device solution to block distractions, while the Pavlok Productivity Chrome extension provides a unique, physical deterrent to unwanted behavior.
6. Brain.fm
Ever listen to a Drake song on repeat and get lost in your work? You can thank science for that.
As with meditation, more and more research has shown that certain music or ambient sounds can help you achieve peak productivity.
Brain.fm uses AI-generated music to boost focus, induce relaxation, and improve sleep. Its user-friendly interface allows you to choose between various modes, such as Focus, Relax, Sleep, and more. Each mode offers a selection of instrumental soundscapes designed to encourage your desired mental state.
Backed by auditory neuroscience, Brain.fm goes beyond providing pleasant background noise – it’s designed to influence specific cognitive states.
Its unique blend of technology and neuroscience creates an innovative tool for those looking to enhance their productivity, and one that stands out in the realm of our favorite focus-enhancing apps.
7. Cold Shower Therapy
If you’ve spent any time reading personal development blogs, chances are you’ve heard of the “magical powers” of taking a cold shower.
While the research is still being fleshed out, many entrepreneurs and successful business people swear by the power of starting your day with a cold shower.
Cold Shower Therapy is a unique wellness tool that leverages the health benefits of cold water immersion. Its intuitive interface guides users through progressive challenges – like lasting 5 minutes in a cold shower for a full week – making adaptation to cold exposure manageable and motivating.
The app also provides educational resources explaining the benefits of cold water therapy, lending credibility and encouragement to your journey.
8. Sleep Cycle
One of our favorite apps on the list, Sleep Cycle helps track the quality of your sleep using your phone’s sensors and microphone to determine how deep a sleep you get throughout the night.
By tracking movements and sounds, it gathers data on sleep phases, duration, and quality, painting a comprehensive picture of your sleeping habits. This actionable data enables you to identify disruptions and make necessary lifestyle adjustments.
Its smart alarm feature is particularly noteworthy. It wakes you up during your lightest sleep phase within a 15 to 30 minute time frame, ensuring a more natural and refreshing wake-up experience.
It even comes preloaded with some soothing soundscapes and ambient music to help you wind down. No more counting sheep!
9. Happify
Think of Happify as your pocket-sized cheerleader, encouraging you to make positive changes that lead to feeling, well… happier!
Offering a buffet of engaging activities and games based on positive psychology, mindfulness, and cognitive-behavioral therapy, Happify is essentially a gym for your emotional wellbeing. And the best part? No sweaty workout gear required!
As soon as you open the app, you’re presented with various tracks tailored to your specific happiness goals. Want to conquer negative thoughts or fuel your career success? There’s a track for that!
And let’s not forget about the fascinating quizzes that reveal insights about your personality. Prepare for some “Aha!” moments!
Now, let’s talk about the instant gratification factor. Happify provides immediate feedback through a Happiness Score, a neat little tool that shows your progress towards becoming a happier, more positive you.
So if you’re ready to add a sprinkle of joy to your life, give Happify a try!
10. Fabulous
Think of Happify as your pocket-sized cheerleader, encouraging you to make positive changes that lead to feeling, well… happier!
Offering a buffet of engaging activities and games based on positive psychology, mindfulness, and cognitive-behavioral therapy, Happify is essentially a gym for your emotional wellbeing. And the best part? No sweaty workout gear required!
As soon as you open the app, you’re presented with various tracks tailored to your specific happiness goals. Want to conquer negative thoughts or fuel your career success? There’s a track for that!
And let’s not forget about the fascinating quizzes that reveal insights about your personality. Prepare for some “Aha!” moments!
Now, let’s talk about the instant gratification factor. Happify provides immediate feedback through a Happiness Score, a neat little tool that shows your progress towards becoming a happier, more positive you.
So if you’re ready to add a sprinkle of joy to your life, give Happify a try!
11. Daily Habits
What sets Daily Habits apart is its colorful approach to habit tracking. Instead of long, daunting lists, habits are visualized as color cards, because who doesn’t love a pop of color to brighten up your day?
Each time you complete a habit or routine, the app celebrates your success with uplifting animations, making habit formation fun. But the fun doesn’t stop there!
Daily Habits gives you a bird’s eye view of your progress with its Habit Streaks feature. It’s like a game where the prize is your personal growth – the longer your streak, the closer you are to making that habit stick! It also rewards you with badges for hitting milestones.
In a nutshell, the Daily Habits app takes the “mundane” out of habit formation and injects it with a dose of color, motivation, and fun!
