Life really is all about the little things.
Just think about all those tiny occurrences in your day that have put a big smile on your face, whether it’s your favourite song coming up on shuffle, a stranger complimenting your hair or running for a bus and actually making it.
Aloe App is all about reminding you to do little things that make a big difference to your wellbeing – like drinking water, brushing your teeth and taking a break from the internet.
Stuff like having a shower, taking your meds and going to bed on time might seem like obvious tasks to some, but if you’re suffering from poor mental health, are a work from home freelancer or a busy parent, they can be easily forgotten.
But just hark back to when you were last hungover – when you eventually dragged you godforsaken body into the bathroom for a shower and a teeth clean, how much better did you feel?
Exactly.
The app was the brainchild of New York-based social and content strategist Amber Discko, who realised she needed a more succinct way of keeping on top of her self-care reminders.
Amber has always lived a busy life, going from a job doing social media for Denny’s Diner, to doing creative strategy at Tumblr, to working on social strategy for Hilary Clinton’s election campaign.
She’s been doing what the app will do (it’s currently in prototype stage and is up for backing on Kickstarter) over many different platforms – whereas Aloe will bring them all into one place.
‘I use the check-in that I developed on the Aloe website to check in with myself throughout the day, to see what I need to be improving on,’ she tells metro.co.uk.
‘And then I have reminders on my iPhone clock that’s set up to help me remember, and this list-making app called Tick Tick.
‘So there’s so many different things that I know that this app will just make so much easier.’
Strangely, the app has already received backlash, from people who don’t understand why you’d forget to brush your teeth.
Amber thinks it’s because the idea of self-care has negative connotations in her home country – not just because it’s often thought of as splurging on a face mask, but because it’s seen as idle.
‘In America, there’s definitely this thing that you always have to be working, always have to be doing the coolest thing and also be doing a million side projects at once, so people are just very busy,’ she tells us.
‘I feel like if people do take a minute to slow down and do something for themselves, they almost feel guilty or that they’re being lazy.
‘It’s so frowned upon. It’s really such an interesting stigma.
‘I want to help people see the value in the term self-care.’
It seems strange that people would be so negative about something purely because they personally don’t have a need for it…or maybe these angry souls actually need it more than anyone?
‘It’s so funny, a lot of people who have said something back to these people are saying stuff like, “I’m pretty sure they’re not staying hydrated enough”,’ Amber laughs.
The Kickstarter campaign had already reached target, but shortly after we spoke to Amber on the phone, she Tweeted that a few of the $500 backers had pulled out, bringing the funding under target, just six days before it ends.
She suspects trolling, and while it’s now back above target, she’s concerned that there are more troll pledges who will pull out last minute.
The great thing about the app is that allows you to set the reminders, so you’re only accountable to yourself.
‘When you have more autonomy over what you’re told to do, you’re more likely to do it,’ explains Amber.
‘If it’s you telling you to go to bed then it’s like, “Okay I want to do this”, rather than someone else saying you should.
‘Psychologically, you’re more inclined to do things you want to do.’
You will be gently reminded that you haven’t been doing things, rather than being shouted at like other apps e.g. running apps that send push notifications accusing you of not running for three weeks.
‘On the main screen when you check in, if you haven’t completed something in a long time, it will fade out,’ Amber tell us.
‘So it’s a way to see what you may need to revaluate.
‘It’s just a nicer way to say it.’
Aloe also encourages you to do a brief journal at the end of the day, as a daily reflection space – and you can pick an emoji to describe your day.
Amber says journaling has helped her greatly throughout her life, through the evolution of keeping a diary in Microsoft Word to Live Journal to WordPress, although she never really felt happy with any of those methods.
‘I have anxiety and it was always hard to feel totally relaxed while getting out everything I wanted to,’ she explains.
‘Anxiety prevents you from doing thing because you’re so wrapped up in thinking about everything that’s happened.
‘I felt more comfortable being put within constraints, so on Aloe, being asked to tell how I’m feeling now through emoji just seems more simple than actually explaining it.
‘It’s good for me and then I can look back and see how I felt represented by images.’
The app will be free in the App Store for download from January 2018, but you can pledge on Kickstarter now and get an earlier version in December this year.
Android users will have to wait a little longer, but they hope to have a version out shortly after the original.
Amber wants to find ways of making the haters see value in the app: ‘I think a lot of it comes from not believing that you deserve to take care of yourself.
‘I think once an app like this becomes more mainstream, people won’t think twice about it.
‘They’ll look at it and think, “I can’t believe this hasn’t existed before!”’
MORE : 15 ways to engage in some self care if you’re feeling down today
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