Use the ‘Days Since’ App to Quit Your Bad Habits

There are habit trackers that help you build good habits. Let’s say you want to journal every day, or meditate; you manually check in every day, and over time you’ve built a new habit. But a well-rounded life requires letting go of bad habits, as well. And here, too, an app can help you stay on track, helping you quit smoking, binge eating, sugar, social media, or any addiction. Whatever you want to quit, it can all be tracked, and left behind, using the Days Since app on the iPhone.

Why you should track bad habits

Accountability and commitment are critical when you’re trying finally to quit a bad habit. And if it’s something addictive like nicotine or alcohol, you’re going to need all the help that you can get.

Here, a simple counter can motivate: It’s been 15 days since you’ve had alcohol, wouldn’t it be great if you keep going? A streak like this will help you when you’re out at a party, and you’re committed to staying sober. Or perhaps everyone’s ordering desserts at the end of the dinner, but you don’t mind abstaining.

My personal crutch is sugar—and using Days Since has helped me stay off of desserts and ice creams for more than six months now.

How to track bad habits using Days Since

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Using the app is simple: You add a new habit, give it a name, a color, add a start date, and you’re done. Now, you can literally do nothing, and go on with your life.

But that’s not going to be helpful. Coming back to the Days Since app where it shows all the counters is a good start. But the best thing that you can do is to add the Days Since widget to the home screen. This simple step will serve as a reminder and will help you stick to your streak.

For some people, this might not be enough—you might want notifications and daily reminders for the quest that you’re on. You can get these features by paying for the Count Up Club membership in the Days Since app. A yearly membership costs $US17.99.

You can always begin again

There will be times when you will break a streak; you’ll eat a bag of Doritos or have a drink. You’re only human, after all. This is where you can reset the counter and begin again. What I like is that the app will let you make a note when you’re resetting a counter, so you can look back at the history of all your resets and your streaks and you can gain valuable insights into your behavior.