Goal charting app?
December 30, 2015 4:54 AM   Subscribe

In the past when I've had big long-term goals (study a language for 300 hours, bike 2,000 miles this summer, etc.) it's been motivating for me to make a big grid on a wall to represent the goal. The grid is divided into however many units of goal I want to accomplish and I color in each unit as I put in the work. It's similar to the fundraising thermometer way to visually represent progress. Is there an iphone app (preferably something attractive with minimal text) that is good for this kind of goal tracking? Most goal tracking apps I've found so far are way too complicated and not what I'm looking for.
posted by horizons to Technology (9 answers total) 13 users marked this as a favorite
 
Habit List is simple, minimal, and will give you a calendar representation of your goal streaks.
posted by backwards guitar at 5:35 AM on December 30, 2015


OmniFocus or OmniPlan?
posted by good lorneing at 6:21 AM on December 30, 2015


Chains?
posted by mrfuga0 at 10:34 AM on December 30, 2015


Streaks!
posted by corn_bread at 10:40 AM on December 30, 2015


Response by poster: To clarify, I'm not interested in daily habit or "streaks" apps.
posted by horizons at 4:27 PM on December 30, 2015


Okay, it might help to know what habit/streak apps have ( or don't have ) compared to the app you're envisioning.
posted by backwards guitar at 6:20 PM on December 30, 2015


Response by poster: I don't want an app that focuses on if I worked on the goals everyday or on a set schedule which seems to be the purpose of streaks/habit apps. Some of my goals are things I work on in sporadic chunks of time and it's totally fine if I don't work towards the goals everyday or even every week, so an app that gives me an X or tells me I broke my streak for not working on a goal that day wouldn't be helpful. I also don't want binary goals like Did you study today? (yes/no) Did you exercise? (yes/no) etc.

I do want an app that lets me chart units of work towards my goal. So, for example with the goal of cycling 2,000 miles, I want to be able to log that I cycled 50 miles one day, 30 the next, 10 per day for the next 3 days and have a visual representation that 110/2,000 of my goal has been completed.

If anyone has search keyword suggestions that would also be helpful. Thanks for all the input so far!
posted by horizons at 7:13 PM on December 30, 2015


Best answer: Hmmm, tricky. You want to track a quantity/target goal instead of a frequency goal. Tough search with all the habit trackers that come up every time you search for 'goal'. Eventually I came up with Strides, which looks AMAZING. You put in your target and when you want to complete it, and it turns up some really nice graphs, totals complete and how far to go, etc.

It does other kinds of goals too......excellent Ask, I now have a new favorite app.
posted by lemonade at 8:53 PM on December 30, 2015 [3 favorites]


Best answer: Beeminder allows for multiple types of goals - counting down and up, reducing an amount, scaling it, odometer type goals, etc. If you don't break your streak, then it's free, and it has iPhone and android apps.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 12:48 AM on December 31, 2015


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