Build better habits

IF YOU’re eager to build better habits this year, or start doing something you’ve been meaning to, LittleBit for iOS can help you get started.

The app encourages you to make progress towards your goals every day, take photos to commemorate your progress, and awards you “bits” for consecutive wins.

LittleBit may come off looking like another goal tracking app at first, but the beauty is in the details. For one, as you take photos of the things you want to do every day — going for a walk, for example — you build a beautiful gallery of connected photos, all of you achieving your goal, that you can review when you need some encouragement, or share with others.

The app adds gamification elements to your habit-forming, too, by rewarding you “bits” for every successful completion you rack up. If you miss a day, it’s no big deal — but if you miss consecutive days, you’ll start to lose bits. The app is built to discourage you from feeling terrible just because you missed a workout, or a walk, for example.

When you collect 21 “bits,” you’ve formed a “habit,” and while you can keep tracking, the app will congratulate you for sticking to your goal.

LittleBit only tracks one thing at a time, forcing you to focus on building that one positive habit. It’s perfect if your goal is to workout every day, or go for a walk in the afternoons, or watch every sunrise, or take a new photo every day, for example.

The app is available now for US$3 (RM9) in the iTunes App Store. — Lifehacker/McClatchy Tribune Information Services