Top 5 Tracking Apps for Your 2017 Goals

If you’re anything like me, you come up with a ton of great resolutions and goals for the new year in a flurry of year-end cheer and optimism, then lose steam somewhere around… February. That’s because all the good intentions in the world can’t necessarily compete with day-to-day distractions and realities. That’s why a good organizational tool is capital-E Essential. There are many different goal-tracking apps and forms you can use to keep you going throughout the year. These free (or low-cost) resources can mean the difference between hitting those goals and re-making them for next year because things didn’t pan out quite the way you intended.

1. Asana

Category: Web-based productivity tool Price: free to download and use, with optional in-app purchases Asana is a project-tracking app that can organize any goal or project into broad tasks, with more granular subtasks. You can make notes on every piece of the project, as well as due dates, and Asana will email you reminders about upcoming milestones. If you have other people involved (as in a work project or a social plan), you can “assign” various tasks and subtasks to others. Asana is handy for creating specific, manageable goals throughout the year. Also, when you check off a task as “complete,” you may see a unicorn flashing across the screen to celebrate. How can you go wrong with unicorns? The website (as well as optional mobile apps) is free to use, but premium subscribers can create unlimited projects and receive additional data analysis.

2. GoalsOnTrack

Category: Goal tracking software Price: $68/year membership GoalsOnTrack is a full-service goal-setting and action plan tool. Whether you’re planning a project in the workplace or managing logistics for a family vacation, GoalsOnTrack offers a system for setting SMART goals to keep things chunked and realistic, creating an action plan that will carry you through the timeline you set, and printing out day planner sheets to keep you in the loop on a daily basis. An account costs $68 per year (approximately $5.67 per month), but there is a 30-day risk free trial available.

3. Strides

Category: Mobile app Price: free to download and use, with optional in-app purchases You like dashboards? Strides has dashboards. Lots of dashboards. Strides gives you charts and real-time data on your smartphone or tablet, with reminders to help you form (and stick to!) good habits. Strides is totally flexible—you can track your progress on the go, and have your goal information at your fingertips no matter where you are. It also offers four different types of trackers: Target (specific one-time goal), Average (ongoing periodic goal), Milestones (specific goal with multiple steps), and Habit (ongoing general goal).

4. Coach.Me

Category: Mobile app Price: free to download and use, with optional premium subscriptions for personal coaching If encouragement and public accountability are what you need to stay on top of your goals, then Coach.Me might be the right tool for you. The app itself features tracking and goal-setting tools that you can use on your own. Coach.me also has a robust community where users can share goals and offer support and feedback. Both the trackers and the community are free to use when you set up an account. If you’d like to take it to the next level and get expert help on your goals, you can subscribe for varying price points to have regular interactions with a personalized coach.

5. Irunurun

Category: Mobile app Price: free to download and use Irunurun keeps you accountable to your goals by offering progress meters and giving you points for each bit of progress you make. Ideally, by the time you hit your goal, you’ve got a score of 100. It may not offer you ice cream when you hit a goal, but you get the satisfaction of hitting that triple-digit milestone. The hard numbers can help you focus on particular tasks or habits that will ultimately get you to that endpoint. Even if a productivity app isn’t for you, there are plenty of online forms and templates you can print out and keep on your fridge, at your desk, next to your bathroom sink, wherever you want it to go:

• Goal Setting for Success
• Smart Goals Guide
• Technori
• Goal Setting Basics
• Tidy Forms

Now that you have your 2017 goals in hand and the tools to organize them, go forth and succeed!