2 apps to empower your morning routine for a prosperous new year

Seeing everyone around us enthusiastic with New Year's resolutions, we end up feeling guilty if we do not take action on our own dreams and goals. We all want to grow and achieve success throughout this year, and that starts with building good habits and getting rid of bad ones. We have another article dedicated to how to track and build habits here. But, we have to admit that the best habit and foundation of a successful life boils down to a solid morning routine. Some say that the first and last hours of the day are the most important ones.

Let's face it, everyone prefers to spend their mornings tucked in under the warm sheets during winter and having an active and busy morning routine is tough. Don't give up though, these 2 apps have helped (even us) to get through those lazy mornings and pursuit success.

Kiwake

"You snooze, you lose". The number one rule of a successful morning routine (and a successful life), is to break your relationship with the snooze button. Of course, that's easier said than done, but for those who are really into this habit, the idea of stopping the snooze sounds impossible.

I have experimented with a number of methods to stop hitting the snooze button, but the best one I've come up with so far is the Kiwake app. The app basically tries to wake you up and get your attention. The more it fails to get your attention through the wake-up process, the more annoying it becomes with louder and more chaotic alarms. And how does the app try to get your attention?

There are 3 steps that you have to go through to motivate you, wake up your mind, and your body. You can set a number of phrases that will help motivate you in the morning. There are puzzle games you have to solve to wake up your brain. And more importantly, you have to get out of bed and take a photo of something far away from your bed to prove that you got up.

I must say, this worked for me. And trying to close the app and silencing your phone work. If you experiment around with it, you might find a way to cheat it (after having to pass through the trauma of very loud beeps), but hey, some minor discipline is required and you shouldn't go look for these cheats. The app is well designed and performs well. You can find out more using the link: http://www.kiwake.com. The app is available for iOS on the App Store here.

Routinist

Another app I find useful to manage my morning routine properly is called Routinist. With this app, you can set a number of things you would like to do in the morning and at night before bed. You give each task a number of minutes that you would like to spend on it. You will also need to set up the time when you would like to leave in the morning (or when you would like to be ready) in order to get the notifications at the right time. The app would then act as a timer and walk you through each item.

This app has really helped me to build a solid morning routine and make sure that I get all the things done in time. Without wasting any time in the morning, I managed to create enough minutes to exercise, read, and so much more; while still arriving on time at the Vioside office.

The app works really well and never had any problems with it. It is slightly complicated in terms of UI, so it might take you some minutes to get used to it at first. I think some improvements in the design of the app itself could be made, but either way, this is the best app I have found to do this job. You can find out more about this app using the link: http://morningroutineapp.com. The app is available for iOS on the App Store here, and they seem to be working on an Android version that is coming soon.