Lift: A Habit Forming App That Works?

We’re now almost at the middle of the year, so how are you doing with those resolutions you set out to do back in January? Chances are those were left to fade away back in February, right? Well, we’ve all been there, and we can all reluctantly agree that forming a new habit is not an easy task.

That’s why today we’re going to present you a tool called Lift that can help you keep track of any new habits you’ve set for yourself, as well as keep you motivated through its great community. It’s one app you actually might get in the habit of using, and be excited you did.

What is Lift?

Lift came out as an iPhone app last year, and it has seen a few revisions since then that have added some extra functionality to the app, the latest of which is a complementary Lift web app. But what is it exactly that you can do with it?

Think of Lift as a habit forming app, one that can help you keep motivated and on track when you’ve set yourself up to start doing something or stopping a bad habit. Biting your nails, going to class every day, eating healthy, you name it: habits you want to start, or stop, can be kept track of in Lift. It’s a community-meets-habit-tracking service. And now, it’s not just an iPhone app, as it has a new beta web app that brings all those wonderful features to your browser.

Interface & Interaction

The web app is topped off with a pretty simple interface, where access to the list of your habits and your activity is always handy, making it much easier to check into multiple habits at once. The recent activity of any given habit is also one click away, and adding new habits or deleting old ones is just as well a breeze.

Have you spotted a pattern here? Yes, everything in the web app is readily accessible and seconds away, unlike the iPhone app where you have to navigate through a number of different screens just to check into your daily habits. I’m already enjoying more using the web app for marking my accomplished habits at the end of the day.

Features

I have yet to find anything the iPhone app can do that the web app can’t. Everything you’ve come to expect of Lift if you’ve used it before is there: interacting with the community (giving props, commenting, etc.), finding friends and following them, exporting your trends to a .csv file, connecting with your Twitter account, and even setting reminders that’ll work with your phone. There’s even a new feature called “Trends” that gives you handy graphics on the patterns of your habits over time.

Does Lift Work?

Opening an app to “check in” into a self-imposed habit might not seem like enough to get you to change your lifestyle, but if you hold yourself accountable to your results and take Lift as a serious tool for staying on track, then yes, it works.

There are several things that make the app successful at what it does:

• Checking In: If you get used to checking into your habits everyday, you’ll feel compelled to get as many of them done by the end of the day, otherwise you won’t be able to shake off that failure feeling.
• Friends: If you have friends you use Lift, you can keep each other accountable by peeking at their check ins and giving them props or dropping them a comment for doing or not doing what they said they would.
• Community Feedback: I don’t know a lot of people who use Lift so the “Friends” thing doesn’t really work for me, but the community found in a few of my habits is what keeps me going. Not only is receiving “props” from a stranger quite encouraging, but I’ve also gotten answers and started conversations regarding my habits with people who are also interested in accomplishing the same thing. That’s my favorite thing about Lift.

Web App or iPhone App?

I have an older iPhone and firing up an app is not always as quick as I would like. Therefore, checking into Lift has become somewhat of a dreadfully tedious and slow process. In the few days that I’ve spent with it, I have found that the web app is much easier and faster to use, as you don’t have to go navigating around a number of screens just to mark a few habits as done. I’ve already noticed an increase in my use of the service now that it doesn’t feel like a habit in itself checking in to my other habits.

I’ll choose the web app for now, but if the Lift team can somehow make it faster to check into my habits everyday, I might reconsider using the iPhone app regularly again. Maybe looking into something like Clear’s swipe gestures for checking into habits wouldn’t hurt?

Conclusion

Yes, checking into your habits in Lift can become a chore in itself and a habit that you’re gonna have to form along with the other dozen habits you said you’d do, but once you get used to it, Lift can be a very powerful motivational tool for staying on track with your resolutions and forming habits.

Lift’s web app is just as good as its iPhone original counterpart, and I have to admit I found it even faster and much more convenient to use. No doubt, they’re both excellent complements to each other and together they have turned Lift into a superb tool for keeping you motivated and on top of whatever it is you are trying to accomplish.

But after all, it’s up to you to make some changes, and as useful an app as this is, it always comes down to how serious you are about improving yourself, don’t you think?