Between classes, homework, activities, friends, and your actual paying job being a college student can sometimes feel like you have two full time jobs. When you’re juggling so many things something is bound to drop. And I know for me, and for many college students around me, that is often taking care of themselves. Simple self-care that will make your health and well-being improve often gets thrown out the window when needed. Drinking water? Forget about it. Going to bed at a reasonable time? Hell no.
To-do lists work sometimes! But if that assignment doesn’t bring immediate dopamine or doesn’t immediately have to get done–then it’s not happening. “Finch” helps solve those problems.
“Finch” is a therapist recommended self care app that gives you a birb, (yes they spell it like “birb”, not bird– it adds to the cuteness) to take care of and send on adventures. The way to send the birb on adventures? You have to complete the tasks and self care items the app curates for you.
Once you download the app it will take you through an intense questionnaire and ask you questions to understand how well you currently take care of yourself, and where you want to improve. Once you complete the questionnaire- it formulates a daily to do list for you to start out with. And as you use it more, the app starts to learn what your routines are and adds suggestions.
Some of these tasks repeat every day like “Get out of bed,” or “Brush teeth.” But you can also add your own tasks, both for the day or to repeat everyday as a habit builder. I’ve been known to add “Eat at the DC at least once,” so at least I’m getting some enjoyment out of the DC food.
The best part of “Finch” is that after you complete each task you get rainbow stones–the currency of “Finch.” You can use the rainbow stones to buy outfits and decorations for the birb’s house.
Do you like dinosaurs? Perfect, have a dinosaur themed house! Outdoors and camping? Your room is now a tent! But the only way you can get these cute things is if you– oh no– take care of yourself.
The app tricks your brain into doing the mundane things that you have no interest in doing by giving you dopamine for doing each thing.
With the “Finch” app, I decided I was going to try to set a new habit. Each night by 11:00 or 11:30, I would read a fun book for 30 minutes to an hour before bed. Somehow the magic of Finch has made me accomplish this goal– even after a long day of reading philosophical books for school. This simple habit change has made far more difference than I ever thought it would. I sleep better because I’m not looking at my phone before bed. I have less anxiety because I get to end the day with escaping into a book, living different lives and engaging in fantasy worlds different than my own– and I got rainbow stones for it.
Besides tricking you into doing things to take care of yourself, the app also lets you be friends with your friend’s birbs! You can send your friends encouragements and even remind them to stretch or drink water–you know they need it.
The best part about having your friends on the app is that you can buy them little outfits or things for their home and send it to them. And as a college student who loves to spoil her friends but doesn’t necessarily have the funds to do so, this app fills that need. I see a sweater that a friend and his birb, Gus would love– but I don’t have enough rainbow stones for it? Oh no! I guess I have to take care of myself so that I can spoil my friends!
Molli Sider-Rose 
Emily Lichius 
Savana Dodd