Read time: 5 min
TLDR:
- Finch is a self-care app that helps to gamify to-do tasks
- Super helpful for gaining momentum on tough, brain fog days
- It’s free 😀
Intro Blurb:
Sometimes I reflect back and think what has been really helpful in getting me out of mental ruts. The first is my friend (DB) who helps me to believe in myself (thanks DB for being a pain, but believing in me when I don’t) and the other is Finch.
Finch is a mental health app (iOS + Android) designed for people with mood disorders such as anxiety and depression. When I first started on Finch, it was back in April 2023 when I was feeling highly anxious about my first solo trip of 2-6 months. How I came across it I don’t remember. Perhaps I was looking for Wysa (another excellent mental health app) and it popped up on the recommended apps section. 4.9 stars on GooglePlay? Nothing to lose! Download…
What is Finch?
Finch is a cute little virtual self-care pet (think Tamagotchi on steroids) where you can input goals for the day. They can be preset if you don’t have any ideas or you can add your own. When I first started with Finch, I was in a rough time in my life so I chose the goals suggested under “Just survive the day”. It was full of great options like:
- drink water
- get out of bed
- make my bed
- take a shower
- and…Literally survive the day
Love it.
I think these small tasks can be so important when we’re not feeling well because they can be the stimulus we need to get up and start crawling out of the mental rut. It can be really easy for me to think about all the things I could do to feel better, but be overwhelmed by the many different ideas or how much I have to do to get there. Sometimes a small win is just what I need to start the momentum in the right direction.
Why does Finch work with our brains?
To put it simply…Dopamine! Each time you complete a little goal such as “Get out of bed” or “Drink water”, you get a little sound ping and Finch gains more energy. With enough energy, Finch gets to go on an adventure. Going on adventures and completing goals give you rainbow stones which you can use to buy your pet clothes and household decorations. All of these game-like experiences increase the level of dopamine in our brains and, since our brains are dopamine-chasers, there’s motivation to “get out of bed” so we can click the to-do box.
A quick caveat:
Now I don’t know about you, but when I’m in a rut, I can become super motivated to make tons of change all at once. So instead of Finch being helpful and simple, all of a sudden it becomes another overwhelming hill that I don’t want to deal with and thus ignore. My advice? Start with a handful of simple goals and build on it when you have motivation. Also, be easy on yourself if you don’t complete them all. The ultimate goal is better self-care rather than to be perfect and do all the tasks. (A very helpful reminder to me at this current moment…haha)
Anyway there’s so much more I can mention about Finch, but I’ll save that for another time. The only other thing I want to leave you with is that Finch is completely free. There is a pro version, but I’ve been using the free version for the past 160 days and it’s worked perfectly well for me. I don’t think I need the paid version, but it’s made such a difference in my life that I might just buy it one day to support the developers.
Love,
T
PS: not paid at all to write this, but just love Finch.
World of Wandering Minds 