SquarePeg Books

The apps of doom

Like a lot of people, I have quite a few apps on my phone, but I’m only going to talk about a few of the ones that I use the most. Some of this is TBI related. Some of this is depression related.

Habitica –This is an app that you can use for free or buy to get more enhancements and such. the idea is to help you develop good habits, lose the bad habits, and occasionally complete a goal. The interface is pretty basic, but for every task completed, you earn points, which allows you to buy gear for adventures. I pretty much only spent my points on acquiring health potions to keep my level until I got enough points to complete the level. This app worked, until it didn’t. It got increasingly harder to achieve the points for tasks completed. I had to constantly blow my “treasures” on buying health potions to not lose my progress. I suppose if I had purchased membership, it might have been easier, but I didn’t, so I ended up having to drop the app or risk rage quitting at the same point again.

Finch – After Habitica became almost impossible for me to keep up with the goals and such on the free, I thought I could maybe survive without it. I’d done three months of daily check-ins, getting at least a handful of daily tasks done, and that’s enough to build a habit, right? No. I need more than 90 days to develop habits, I guess. Finch has cuter graphics and focuses a lot on being positive, not just rewarding the accomplishments. It’s free, and also has subscription packages. I seem to respond better to Finch than Habitica, but I’ve only been using it since the beginning of June, so we’ll have to see how it goes. I’m not instantaneously productive like the advertisement hints is possible, but having an app like this does help me get things done.

Connect Word – I picked it because it’s free. I like free. Free makes my life easier. It’s a word association game that starts out relatively simple, but gets progressively harder. Do they mean “spring” as in the season, the action, or the mechanical implement? Which other words go with it? I installed it because the TBI has made finding words harder for me. If I’m going to write, I need to know some words without fumbling. It can be overwhelming at times, though. Some days I don’t finish the daily challenge because I just can’t figure out the common connection between the remaining words.

Math Crossword – another freebie I grabbed because of the TBI. It isn’t like Soduku, at least I don’t think it is, and it can be a bit of a brain teaser.

Yoga Joy – a yoga app that you don’t have to buy, unless you absolutely cannot stand commercials at the beginning and the end of your routine. I actually use it occaisionally, too.

Brain Waves – this one was the best I could find for free. People with TBI’s supposedly respond well to certain frequencies of sound to kickstart them into a gneral direction, like studying or being creative or what-not. I haven’t really played with it much because the last few months because I’ve felt like my hair is on fire with everything else. I could actually select one of the frequencies and set a timer for bedtime relaxation, but I never seem to get around to it.