Best Free Android Apps to Achieve Your New Year’s Resolutions | Dramel Notes

This New Year, set yourself the challenge of changing or starting one habit. Yes, the idea of a New Year’s resolutions may seem old by now, but research shows that you’re more likely to achieve new goals this way. So make it easier on yourself and set that challenge.

It’s up to you whether the challenge is losing weight, quitting smoking, having a more positive outlook, or anything else. Whatever you set as your resolution, you need to visualize it and keep the big picture clear in your head. We’ve established three science-backed steps to achieve your resolutions, and this is one of them.

So if your goal is to lose weight, set a target weight for yourself — that’s your goal. Got it? Be realistic, don’t think up 10 new things. Just concentrate on one new habit to boost yourself. Now whip out your Android phone and let’s get to work.

Track Your Goal Regularly

Forming a new habit doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. You need to give it time and keep plugging away, day after day, to ensure you reach your goal. In the meanwhile, to know whether you are getting there or not, you should track your progress.

Almost anything can be tracked when you have an Android phone. But the more beautiful your data appears, the more motivated you will be to use the app. TrackThisForMe is perfect for this purpose.

The app is really simple to use, and the free version is ideal if you’re changing one habit. It lets you set up five different things to track at a time. Add a value, choose the date, and add a comment if you feel like. But remember, don’t track what you did, track how close to your goal you are.

For example, if you’ve set an ideal weight you want to hit, then track your current weight each and every time. Don’t track when you went to the gym, which days you stuck to your diet and cheated, and so on. Those don’t help as much; instead, keep your eye on the prize.

Over time, you can view graphs and charts of your progress. You can also set up a reminder to check in daily and update your data, so that you get a steady, beautiful graph going. Based on your data, TrackThisForMe will even calculate when you are likely to reach your goal!

It’s somewhat like Loggr for iPhone, but TrackThisForMe is free for all the aforementioned purposes. There’s a pro version which adds more than five categories, comparisons, and other doodads, but the basic free app is good enough.

Download: TrackThisForMe for Android (Free)

Keep a Streak Going and Tell the World

Jerry Seinfeld, one of the world’s leading entertainers, had a simple plan. When he was a struggling comedian, he made sure he wrote one joke every day and marked that date on the calendar. This productivity technique, often called “Don’t Break The Chain”, is among the more popular ones to build a new habit.

The Play Store is full of apps that do this. We’ve even featured Habit Track Pro in the past. There’s also Habit Streak, Rewire, and others, but the tool I liked most is Pledge.

Pledge is the epitome of the adage, “Keep it simple.” Set up what you want to track. Choose how often you intend to hit the target — daily or weekly. Log in and tap “Yes” if you did go to the gym.

The other big finding of that aforementioned research is that people who publicly announced their goals to others achieved them more often than those who kept goals to themselves. Of course, if you’re losing weight, you can make it even easier on yourself if you automate sharing with wearable tech. But whenever you log your daily/weekly accomplishment in Pledge, you can share it with others via a social network or email!

At any time, Pledge will show how long you have maintained your streak, your personal best record, and you can tap the notification to see a calendar with dates that are green and red to show your success rate.

Download: Pledge for Android (Free)

One App to Rule Them All

There’s a popular misconception that it takes 21 days to form a habit. Researchers at University College London found that 21 is far too few; the actual number is closer to 66 days — it still depends a bit on you, of course.

Personally, I think you should use either TrackThisForMe or Pledge, since it’s best to keep the tool simple and concentrate on the habit. But productivity and behavior are subjective. If you’d like to combine the two tools, and add the aforementioned 66-day target, check out HabitBull.

Set up a habit, add a reminder, and put a target of 66 days. HabitBull will then do the heavy lifting, tracking your progress to create a “don’t break the chain” calendar, turning the data into gorgeous graphs, and keeping you going with motivational phrases. Plus, the app’s interface is wonderful and it’ll have you coming back for more,

There’s a Pro version that adds extra features, but the free app is good enough to get things done.

Download: HabitBull for Android (Free)

Which App Achieved Your Resolution?

Using an Android device and attempting a New Year’s resolution? We want to know. Down in the comments, share which app helped you achieve your goal — we’d prefer it was free, but paid ones will do too.

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5 Mistakes That Make You Quit Your New Year’s Resolutions | Dramel Notes

I used to be a quitter. Every day would be filled with false starts and high ambitions, and I might even make a lot of progress towards whatever goal I had in mind at the time, but ultimately I would always give up before reaching said goals.

The New Year Resolution season is upon us, and many of us are hoping that this year will be the year where everything turns around. You’re going to exercise every day. You’re going to lose 50 pounds. You’re going to launch that new business idea. But more likely than not, you’re just going to quit.

Here’s how I stopped being a quitter. It wasn’t easy, and it took a while to get to the point where I actually finished a project, but it was certainly worthwhile. Want to stop quitting? Avoid these killer mistakes.

1. You Have No Routine

The entire “New Year Resolution” phenomenon essentially boils down to habit-making, and habits are built over time. The opposite is true, too: bad habits are dismantled over time. Your job is to contribute a little bit each and every day until those habits are built (or dismantled).

The proper way to do this is to create a routine. And as counter-intuitive as it may sound, this is especially important if your resolution goals are creative. Here are several free habit-changing apps that can help:

• Habit Streak: Daily goal tracker that helps you maintain streaks over long periods of time. Available on Android.
• Rewire: Another app for building streaks, but with a bit more flexibility than Habit Streak. Available on Android.
• QuitNow!: Specifically for those trying to quit smoking. Available on Android, iOS, and Windows Phone.
• Lose It!: Specifically for those trying to lose weight. Available on Android, iOS, and Web.
• Pact: Specifically for those trying to build fitness and diet habits. It is unique as Pact will pay you if you keep your streaks, but cost you money if you don’t. Available on Android and iOS.

Routines can be a pain, but here’s the good news: habits can form or break in just 21 days. All you have to do is hold out for three weeks and you’ll find it much easier to stay on track towards your goals.

However, this doesn’t mean you’ll be immune to giving up, so always stick to the routine. The routine is invaluable because it keeps you honest even when you feel like quitting.

2. You Aren’t Skilled Enough

If your New Year Resolution involves learning a new technical skill, then there’s a good chance that you’re going to feel overwhelmed by the learning curve at some point — and when that inevitably happens, you’re going to want to quit.

This is a huge issue for newbies who are trying to learn how to program, which tends to manifest as programmer’s block. But really, it could happen for any skilled pursuit: photography, digital art, web design, or even woodworking. When your ability lags behind your vision, you become frustrated.

Fortunately, you can overcome this with a solid training plan. Instead of deciding to “learn 3D animation”, take some time and outline what your progression will look like. A goal-based vision board can be quite useful for this.

But at the end of the day, you’re frustrated because you simply aren’t skilled enough, and the only way around this is to keep learning, keep practicing, and keep sticking to your routine.

Need help with your training? Check out these photography YouTube channels, these photography Lynda.com courses, these web design YouTube channels, these digital art Lynda.com courses, and last but not least, these woodworking YouTube channels.

3. Your Goals Are Poorly Defined

Few things are as detrimental to progress than a poorly-defined goal. Here’s what a poorly-defined goal looks like:

• “I want to lose weight”
• “I will learn how to draw”
• “I’m going to start an Etsy business”

Why are these bad? Because they’re lofty, big, long-term, vague, abstract, and lacking urgency. For example, at what point will I be able to say, “I now know how to draw”? At this point, this goal is no more than a concept or wish.

A properly-defined goal — also known as a S.M.A.R.T. goal — has all five of the following characteristics:

1. Specific: The goal should clearly outline the action that you’re going to take rather than the end result that you want. “Learn to draw” is abstract, but “Practice drawing portraits” is specific.
2. Measurable: The goal should be clear enough that you can say whether or not you’ve reached it. “Practice drawing portraits” is vague, but “Practice drawing portraits 7 times a week” is measurable.
3. Achievable: The goal must be difficult enough to put you outside your comfort zone, but not so difficult as to be discouraging. “7 times a week” is tough, “Once a week” isn’t enough, but “3 times a week” is good.
4. Relevant: The goal must be in line with the broader, longer-term goals you have in mind.
5. Timely: The goal must be attainable in the short-term. If it takes too long, you’re likely to lose steam before you get there.

Here’s a short rule of thumb: a properly-defined goal is one that can be checked off from a to-do list within 24-72 hours. As such, to-do lists make excellent supplementary tools to the habit-forming goal trackers mentioned above.

• Todoist: Simple but effective to-do list with an intuitive interface. It gets even better with Todoist premium features, too.
• Trello: Card-based interface makes it great for complex tasks that require notes and annotations.
• Wunderlist: The simplest to-do list of them all. Works particularly well on mobile devices.
• WorkFlowy: Unique take on the to-do list concept, allowing you to clear away distractions while you work on certain tasks.

The best part about S.M.A.R.T. goals is that they play a double role: not only are they better for tracking progress, but they act as micro habits that encourage behavioral momentum. This is key to overcoming the tendency to quit.

4. You Have Too Many Goals

One big paradox is that highly ambitious and motivated people tend to have too many goals, resulting in paralysis as they struggle to commit. When you want too many things, you could end up in an endless cycle of quitting-and-restarting.

In other words, indecision can kill your progress overnight.

Fortunately, indecision is a curable disease. Once you understand the psychology of indecision and why you have so much trouble committing, it becomes easier to pick and choose which goals really matter to you — but the problem won’t solve itself.

There are only so many hours in a day, so if you really want to commit to a new goal, then you must sacrifice something else in its place: watch less Netflix, relinquish responsibilities at work, give up a personal hobby, etc.

But which goals should you pursue and which ones should you give up? That’s up to you. However, if you’re having trouble, here are a few apps that can help you make those tough decisions:

• Decision Buddy: This Android app guides you through the decision making process, streamlining everything and making sure you take the route that matters most to you.
• ChoiceMap: Similar in practice to Decision Buddy, except only available for iOS.
• Ultimate Decision Maker: If you need to flip a coin, this app is for you. It can also roll dice, spin wheels, and more. Random decision making has never been easier.
• Draw.IO: Flowcharts can simplify decisions, and this Web app is both excellent and free.

If you don’t want to give up anything, then you can compromise by postponing secondary goals instead. For example, instead of learning three new things at once, try spreading them out across the year.

Whatever you do, just make sure that you don’t overdo it by working too hard and sacrificing your health in the process.

5. You’re Afraid to Fail

The number one reason why creatives quit the pursuit of their dreams? Fear of failure. If you feel like you aren’t good enough or that your work sucks or that you could never be a good [insert goal here], then you know what I’m talking about.

Take this to heart: you are not alone!

Many TED Talks on creativity exist, but there’s one that we want to highlight. Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Your Elusive Creative Genius” presentation is a must-watch for anyone struggling with the fear of creative failure:

The fear of failure also extends beyond the creative. For example, many people stop going to the gym because they think they’ll never be able to achieve the weight, strength, or body definition that they truly want — and so they quit.

But fear is good. The ability to take calculated risks is one thing that separates those who grow from those who stall. In fact, every successful entrepreneur knows that staying within one’s comfort zone is the recipe for stagnation.

It all comes down to how we think. For most of us, lack of success means failure — but is that true? Perhaps there’s a better way to think about success and failure.

Will You Quit This Year, Too?

Quitting is easy. Trust me, I know. I’ve quit hundreds of projects, hobbies, and pursuits over the past decade and I have a lot of regrets because of that. But these are the lessons that have helped me outgrow that mentality, and I hope they help you, too.

How tough is your struggle with New Year Resolutions? Got any tips for success? What can we do to avoid the never-ending quit cycle? Tell us in the comments below!

Image Credits: Sitting young man looking by Kamenetskiy Konstantin via Shutterstock, Digital Art Practice by Diego Cervo via Shutterstock, New Year Resolutions by marekuliasz via Shutterstock, Business cartoon by Cartoon Resource via Shutterstock

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Geek Trivia: The First Wearable Computer Was Used For? | Dramel Notes

Answer: Cheating At Roulette 

Wearable computers are commonplace today; we use them for tracking our fitness goals, monitoring health vitals, and all manner of tasks. A little over fifty years ago, however, the idea of wearing a computer on your body was still a futurist’s dream. A dream, that is, until an industrious MIT mathematics professor and MIT faculty member (an endowed chair) decided to build a wearable computer to help them beat the odds at the casino.

From 1960-1961, Edward Thorp and Claude Shannon put their minds to building a portable computer that could calculate the odds on the roulette wheel. The endeavor is notable for two reasons. Not only did they build a cigarette-sized working computer that could be worn concealed on the body and used to stack the odds in their favor when playing roulette, but they had to overcome significant challenges in figuring out the calculations to use on the portable computer in the first place.

To build the computer they first needed to get the physics of roulette wheel construction and action down pat. In order to do so they bought a regulation roulette wheel and set it up with strobe lights, clocks, and counters all in order to get measuring and calculating the timing and movement of the wheel down to an art form. Only then could they build a device, controlled by switches in their shoes and relaying hints to their ears via tiny hearing-aid-like speakers concealed in their ears, to take on the roulette wheel.

After conducting both passive and live field tests in Las Vegas to prove the machine worked (in 1961), the duo later went public (in 1966) with their design because sharing the trials, tests, design work, and outcome was more enjoyable and productive than pulling one over on the house.

Image courtesy of Thorp and Shannon.

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How to Learn Any Skill with Your Own Solid Training Plan | Dramel Notes

You’re an ambitious professional who knows where you want to go in life and what you want to achieve.

But how will you get there?

That’s the big question that keeps many people circling around their goals without completing them. In order to keep moving forward, and to progress at the desired rate, you have to take responsibility for your own development.

For years, research shows that planning is directly linked to better success with goal achievement.

“The chances to materialize relatively simple and straightforward goals can be surprisingly low. To interrupt habits, conscious attention on the pending goal is required and experience shows that this is often hard.”

But if it were easy, everyone would be living their dream life already. Let’s ask technology for help. Follow these steps to plan and complete your own training plan for any skill.

Make a List Of “Whys” And “Whats”

Obstacles are inevitable in any course of action. Prepare in advance so you can overcome hurdles when they arise. First, make a list of the reasons you want to learn this new skill.

• Will it increase your earning potential?
• Fulfill a lifelong dream?
• Help you start your own business?

Whatever your reasons, having a hard copy to remind yourself of the “why” behind your training plan will help you push through difficulties.

Keeping your goals in sight is just as important as remembering why you started. Your list of “whats” will keep you focused on the outcomes you hope to achieve. This list may be similar to the first one, but be as descriptive as possible about the different life or career you’ll have once you learn this skill.

For example, if starting your own business is your main reason why, your outcome could be something like,

“As a small business owner, I’ll do work I love while having the freedom and flexibility to be my own boss. My income will rise with the success of my business, creating unlimited earning potential.”

Here are the best list-making tools the Internet has to offer:

Evernote: You can create lists on your phone or computer, making Evernote convenient to access anywhere. And in addition to creating simple lists, you can collect webpages and scans of anything you take a picture of. This could be helpful for people who find visuals more motivating than text.

Remember the old practice of taping photos of models to the fridge to help you stay on a diet? Evernote offers the tech version of this motivational boost. The basic version is free, or you can upgrade to the $24.99/year Plus package or the $49.99/year Premium package.

Download: Evernote for iOS | Android

Any.do: This app is also accessible from multiple devices, and its simple design is helpful in preventing distractions. In addition to making your “why” and “what” lists with Any.do, you could also set reminders for specific tasks related to achieving your goals.

For example, the first step is always the hardest, so identify it right away and then remind yourself to do it when you said you would. Any.do is free for a basic account. You can buy a Premium account for $2.99/month or $26.99/year.

Download: Any.do for iOS | Android

Notes: Apple users may find it easiest to use the Notes app already on their phones. It can also be used across devices and on the web, and its notepad-like design feels like writing lists the old-fashioned way.

Recent updates have made Notes more competitive with Evernote. You can save links, photos and even captions in text that looks like your own handwriting.

Create a Weekly Schedule

Once you’ve figured out what you want to do, you need to schedule the days and times you’ll work toward your goals. Unlike the built-in schedule of attending an in-person class, learning on your own requires discipline and planning to stay on track.

First, choose a time every week that you can sit down and decide on your tasks for the following week. This could be Sunday afternoon or Monday morning — just pick a time you can commit to each week. Make a list of specific, actionable tasks for that week. Then sketch out the days and times when you can complete each task.

For example, if you’re learning a new language, your tasks at the beginning may all be blocks of time you can devote to studying and practicing the language. Even if you can only spend 15 minutes on a given day, consistency and repetition are more important than finding the biggest block of time.

These calendar and scheduling tools will help you stick to your task-list:

todoist: Helpful features of this mobile and web app include the ability to break down tasks into sub-steps, making them even easier to complete. You can set due dates as well as recurring dates, which could help you remember your weekly check-in appointment with yourself. Todoist offers a free version as well as a premium package for $29/year.

Download: todoist for iOS | Android

Google Calendar: Google has the best calendar app for scheduling and managing tasks. Color-coding allows you to designate appointments and tasks to different parts of your life, such as work and personal. This could be a helpful visual when you plan your week, so you can see how your self-training program will fit with the rest of your life.

Download: Google Calendar for iOS | Android

do Cal: If you decide to use Any.do for list-making, you’ll appreciate its sister app, Cal. Easily sync your goal and task lists to a calendar format. The easily overwhelmed will appreciate Cal’s one-day-at-a-time format, which shows you only what you have to do today. This could help you stay in the moment and complete your tasks without worrying about what tomorrow will bring.

Download: Cal for iOS | Android

Set Up Accountability

Sure, you want to succeed at learning your new skill for all the reasons you listed above. But what if you get sick, work gets busy or a personal obligation starts to consume more time than usual? It’s easy to skip a day or task with the rationale that you can catch up later. Outside accountability will keep you focused on meeting your goal unless you want to face the consequences.

Use social media to inform everyone you know of your plan. Vow to post regularly about your progress and ask your followers to get on your case if you slip up. You could also promise to share an embarrassing photo or video of yourself if you don’t meet a certain goal. Fear of public shaming is always a good motivator!

Find a community for your skill, and ask on discussion boards to be held accountable. You might even find others you can trade accountability with. For example, if your new skill is blogging, you can find other bloggers in the community forum of a website such as Be a Freelance Blogger.

Use Group Mooc to design your own course of study, and invite others to join you. The group members can also hold each other accountable.

Download: Group Mooc for iOS

Assess Your Progress

How will you know you’re progressing toward mastery of your skill, not to mention when you’re finished? The same assessments you took in school, such as tests, essays and other projects, can help you figure out how you’re doing in your self-training program.

How you assess yourself will determine on your chosen skill.

For example, if you want to play the guitar, you could play a song at open mic night after a few months of practice. Audience feedback will let you know how you did. If you’re learning to blog, start submitting your work to different websites. Language learners can practice with conversational partners native to the language for feedback on their skills.

The bottom line is that, at some point, you have to put yourself out there.

You Can Be Part of The 8 Percent

That’s the average number of people who actually complete their New Year’s resolutions. But now you know why the rest fail: Setting a goal is easy and exciting to do, but the real work happens in planning and follow-through. Now that you’re equipped with the technological and psychological tools to carry out your self-training program, you can be the next success story to inspire others.

So, what goals will you accomplish with your training program? What new skills will you  learn?

Image Credits: superscheeli via Flickr, Kaboompics, Unsplash, MariusMB and Startup Stock Photos

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