The Best Apps to Motivate You to Clean
Over the past year, I’ve been on a decluttering and organization journey that I’ve been writing about, sharing all the helpful techniques and tools that make things like this easier. But I haven’t discussed one of the main factors that has helped me the most: accountability. You can follow any professional organizer’s advice, buy containers to store every little thing you have and plan your cleaning down to the second, but sometimes you need outside influence to keep you on track.
Removing responsibility from other people
Last June, when I began my biggest attempt to declutter to date, I knew I needed to create some kind of reward and punishment system or I would lose steam. Here’s what I did:
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I asked my friends to continue sending me memes and TikToks, but to stop if I opened them or responded to them before 10:00 pm, the time I had set for stopping cleaning and receiving my “reward.” It worked because I knew that every night at 10pm I would have a curated collection of fun things to look at as a treat, but I had to earn it. (This approach was indeed similar to the “animedoro” method , which allows you to enjoy one episode of a show after a predetermined amount of work.)
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Every week I asked a new friend to come see me on Saturday. I cleaned and organized all week, knowing I needed it because someone would come. Then when they got there, I told them they could choose five things—clothes, trinkets, whatever—to take home with them. Most basic decluttering methods rely on getting you to categorize items into things that can be donated, things that need to be thrown away, and things that need to be kept, so that it was a way to get more “donations” done and less “throwing away.”
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If I had a big trash day, I would tell a friend early in the morning and he would periodically text me asking for a photo. Even the knowledge that I would have to prove my progress to people whose opinions I respect pushed me to fill my trash bags.
These are just things I did, and some of them were a little stupid, but they helped me. Accountability doesn’t have to be harsh, punishments don’t have to be terrible, and you don’t have to do more than take a few photos or send a few progress updates if you don’t want to, so use these examples to come up with similar approaches. Of course, my affairs depend heavily on the input of my friends, who were (thankfully) happy to help, but if you don’t want to involve other people in cleaning up the mess, you still have options.
The Best Apps to Keep You Accountable While Cleaning
There are several apps that can help you schedule cleaning , but they still don’t do much for accountability. You can just… not use them! The benefit of getting accountability checks from real people rather than apps is that you can’t just turn off real people. Get the best of both worlds with apps that match you with a person.
FocusMate
FocusMate connects you with an accountability partner in real time, allowing you to find someone who is also working on something. You can video chat, share what you’re working on, and use virtual ” body mirroring ” to understand the theory that people work harder when someone else is with them. You can work three times a week for free, but unlimited sessions will cost you $9.99 per month.
Support
Using Supporti is similar, but you get a long-term partner with similar goals. Every day you chat in the app, share and check your progress, while exchanging feedback. You work together for a week and then get the chance to choose a new partner if yours doesn’t work out, but if you both agree, you stay together. It costs $15.99 per month or $129.99 per year.
Other Accountability Apps
There are also apps you can use to track your progress without involving anyone at all. Try Loop Habit Tracker , which gives you the ability to track your progress and keep a chart. You’ll receive notifications when it’s time to work or check in, and the more you log into the app, the higher your habit score becomes, making the experience gamified. Up to seven habits are free, but you’ll pay $9.99 per month for more.
Finally, there’s Boss as a Service , which takes a new approach that may not suit everyone: it acts like a demanding boss demanding proof that you’re making progress. You must send screenshots, photos or any other proof that you are actually doing what you intend to do, otherwise he will mercilessly send you notifications, harassing you like an overbearing boss might. If you work best under pressure, give this app $25 per month (or $60 per quarter or $200 per year) to give you a sense of urgency.