I got a question about how I use tracking apps on my phone, so I thought maybe more of you might benefit from my explanation:

I have used two habit tracker apps successfully for years:

Way of Life app

Habit List app (Habit Tracker app is an updated version but I use the old one which is still also available)

Both are available in the app store and are simple to use and set up.

You can find them on my phone’s front page above, and see screen shots of them in the app store below.

I use both simultaneously, and I like the streamlined simplicity of their interfaces. I use one for daily human habits, and the other for cultivating spiritual ones. Both have been a boon for progress and growth!

In the Way of Life app I have 53 daily “to-dos” listed and I play a game with myself where I strive to do 30 or more a day, usually landing at little less than that, but definitely more than 16 or so. Some I do regularly (like my Bible lesson, my spiritual “dailies,” blogging, and my practice work), while others are more like a menu of possible options that I want to encourage myself to do (examples: decluttering, house cleaning, exercise, fiction and nonfiction reading, getting up at 6am, going to bed at 10pm, painting, writing poetry, journaling, getting outside, drinking enough water, talking to my kids, trying a new recipe etc.)

Doing more of these things helps me thrive humanly and the tracker is not so much a vehicle to beat me up and get me to do them, as patting me on the back, because yay I did as many as I did. Through this app, I compete with myself to include more ingredients of a great day. It also keeps track of spurts, which is why I know I’m regular about the lesson, but also, for example, I’ve met my eating goals now for 234 days. That makes me less likely to want to go “off” and descend into holiday eating habits, which has been great. Your progress becomes clear, and more than any other reason for doing this, you’ll find yourself getting regular about things that before were a stretch for you, which is energizing!

I consult and check off items on the Way of Life app multiple times a day, which is easy to do on my phone, and it helps remind me of the things I want to do as well. This list is about self mastery and how I spend my time to show up for myself humanly. A day when I don’t do as many because either I was resting or deeply involved in a project? No problem, tomorrow is another day. I never flagellate myself! Self will is a dangerous demon to be thoroughly avoided, while mindfulness is a good thing.

The Habit List app could be used for all that too, but I chose to separate out my spiritual goals, so do it in a this different app. The two apps are interchangeable, so if you want to arrange them in reverse apps to do both types of tracking it is not a problem. Or maybe you want to fuse it all together and use only one. Which I use for what is purely a function of how my process evolved.

I go over the Habit List list once a day (and doing that is an item to check off on my Way of Life app). There are over a hundred deep spiritual necessities on there (!) that get modified, edited, customized, and polished over time. In one way they are affirmations of what is already true, but in another, they are necessary spiritual requirements that must be met. I’d better make sure I understand, remember, and do them! Examples include:

Not a spot where God is not.

I am satisfied because God is.

My unselfed thought expresses only the divine power.

As I think, so I am. Better thoughts, better me.

I live in a world of consciousness, not matter.

The Christ is working in and through me (and others) today.

I see the Christ at work both in me and in others.

I exist at the standpoint of opportunity.

I exist at the standpoint of poise.

I magnify good.

I expand my thought to include more good.

I know God’s thoughts are the only influence.

I am confident in the protective power of God’s infinite presence.

I do not compare myself to others.

I am attracted to the things of Spirit.

God governs the combination of ideas.

I rise into newness of life with regeneration.

I believe only what is true.

I have abundance in all the right places.

God is with my mouth.

Etc! Etc! Etc!

It is a long list that is already true but requires active demonstration and application. You have to make them pithy to fit in the app, so in practice, some of these are abbreviated in ways I understand. They are like David’s tried and true smooth stones that take down Goliaths. I want to be darned sure I am close to them and keeping them at the forefront of my thought.  

I don’t “track” them so much as make sure I’ve pondered them and seen them manifested each and every day. You could do it on a piece of paper to review instead, but I’ve found I’ll want to refer to it at times I have my phone and not the piece of paper. Plus the app reminds me to do it, which is helpful for it not slipping past your good intentions. Really, I’m just checking off the daily review on how the application of each spiritual idea is coming along, owning where I can give gratitude that they were met, and realizing aspirational intentions of where I can do more. For me, going over the things on the spiritual Habit List is more of a daily alignment process, of how well I’m doing, and where can better apply these ideas.

Making and diligently going over your own list of spiritual essentials is something I wholeheartedly recommend! Put your beliefs into practice; utilize your beliefs and make them applicable to your life!

There is a big difference between how I use these two similar apps, and tending both lists are important for me. They are supportive of my growth and happiness. I encourage you to give them a try!

What kind of things are you desirous of tracking?