Let’s face it. Usually, the apps we download on our phones typically make
us lazier and more apathetic. We simply sit on the couch and with one click, we have dinner or
a gift for the person we love delivered to the door. We don’t even make an effort to remember street
names anymore. Google Maps takes care of that! However, apps are not always detrimental to
our responsiveness. We have discovered three apps that can improve our lives and help us get
through our day to day lives or handle specific situations and needs, without affecting our
proactivity. Let’s check them out!
1. Forest. Stay focused.
Staying focused is not for everyone. It seems unbelievable, but many people
just can’t do it. It takes almost nothing for them to lose their attention.
The notifications from our smartphones, which we are inundated with constantly, only make it worse.
Forest is an app created specifically to keep those digital distractions
at bay. Technology being saved from technology is almost a paradox. The developers have come up with
an ingenious way to encourage users to stay off their phones by planting a virtual tree; hence
the name Forest. To use the app, simply set the time you want to be away from your phone. Once the
timer starts, you will see a tree grow on your home screen. The longer you stay away from your
phone, the bigger the tree grows. If you go past the set time block without canceling the timer,
the fully grown tree will join the virtual forest on the screen. If you interrupt the timer, the tree
dies. The goal is to grow as many trees as possible until a virtual Amazon rainforest is created.
Forest is available for Apple and Android devices, with free and paid versions. Familyandmedia recommends
this app for those who can’t handle not looking at their phone every five minutes and who
don’t miss a single notification or call.
2. Goodreads. To always find new books
Is reading your passion? Then here is Goodreads, the social
media designed for readers and writers. A digital book club. With this app you can
keep track of the books you have read, the ones you want to read in the future, catch up on news about
upcoming books, write reviews and give your own assessment of what you read, participate in discussions
with other readers and create groups.
In short, it is a community dedicated to the world of reading. It is also a
way to make new friends based on a common interest. Familyandmedia recommends this app for
those who read one book a week and are excited to share their passion for reading with others.
3. Recyclebank. The app for reducing waste
Recyclebank is an app to reduce waste. With this app, you get
rewards every time you help the community reduce waste. The incentive mechanism is simple:
it offers a loyalty points card to those who sort their waste in order to incentivize their use of the app
because you can then turn the points into rewards. This is done through a patented three-step process
called Recycle, Redeem, Reward .
– Recycle – at home, recycling is done in specific containers
– Redeem – the containers contain what is called an ID tag, a chip, which
allows you to record how much is collected separately. This amount of waste is then converted into
Recyclebank loyalty card points.
– Reward – with the loyalty card, consumers go to participating stores
and get the discounts and rewards. Familyndmedia recommends this app for those who are not
autonomously environmentally- minded. It may not be ethical to incentivize recycling with rewards, but as
they say, the important thing is the end result not the means by which you got it.
