We all have stuff we would like to deal with, bad habits, emotional baggage, various bits and pieces of our psyche that need…ahem…polishing. The typical solution is either to ignore the issue, or pay someone to listen to us blabber away as we try and work it out through words. Neither option really helps that much, although it does deliver quite a bit of cash to the therapist profession.

Recently technology has started to step to help with some innovative ideas, and the Chains app is the latest iteration to hit the streets. The software, which is currently only available for the iOS platform, is a motivational tool which helps you to stick to a plan of action – for example break bad habits or encourage good ones – by establishing a chain of behavior.

So if you want to start eating healthily for a period of time, you set that goal in the app, and then each day you manage to achieve the goal, you mark it off on-screen to maintain the ‘chain’ of good behavior. Once you’ve achieved your goal, you can then just delete the whole project.

There are other features of the app such as groups, which can help you maintain your goal by letting you share your triumphs with others on the same path, and there are a lot of groups to choose from ranging from stopping procrastination to learning Spanish.

For Android users, there’s a rather uglier but similar app called Habit Streak, which is also free of charge and which comes with all sorts of encouraging features to help you improve your life and habits.