Finch Report

I've been aware of something called the Finch App for some time. It's a self-care tool that is friendly to, but not exclusively for, neurodivergent people. I resisted downloading it for some time because the first person that pitched it to me described it in kind of a creepy way. But on January 31 of this year I took the plunge and gave it a try.

Basically, you hatch a cartoon finch that becomes your companion. You get to name it and choose its colours. I made mine purple and named it Phoenix, as it stuck with the mythological theming of my own name, and because it's avian in nature.

The game gives you some self-care goals and as you complete them, you earn Rainbow Stones. With these you can buy things like clothes and furniture. You also earn Energy which, if you get enough of it, sends your Finch on an adventure. This gets you a bonus item and an experience which can build your Finch's personality.

The goals are customizable. There are a bunch of other cool features, such as a mood map that if you fill, it tells you what times of day you feel most happy or motivated. I was surprised to learn that I feel best on Mondays and worst on Fridays. I would have guessed much differently, but it turns out that I start every week with optimism and by the end, I'm used up.

You can share goals with friends, which adds a bit of soft pressure. Lee-Anne has downloaded it as well, and we share an exercise goal, for example.

You can select a special goal that will hatch a Micropet for your Finch if you do it enough times. Right now mine is about working on hobbies. Blogging counts.

Basically, it game-ifies some of the more mundane elements of life that are difficult to focus on. It creates the sense that you are doing it for someone else, as it can be difficult to perceive delayed gratification as being for oneself, and it gives a sense of chronology to improvement. I might write a longer review at some point, but I wanted to make this update about my first annual Finch Report. It just gave me a list of my accomplishments this year.

January 31 - Hatched Phoenix

Took care of self for 334 days

I think it counts a successful self-care day as when you complete enough goals to send your Finch on an adventure. I think I managed it every day. It's almost a little weird that I was able to get enough of a signal at my grandparents place on the Canadian Shield to keep my streak going.

It counted these as my three most frequently completed tasks: 

Take Meds - 308 times

I have "Take Meds" as something that needs to happen twice a day to count as complete. So I think most of the days that are missed, I still remembered once. I found that if I were eating somewhere other than home, it made it easier to forget my second dose. Apparently this happened 26 times.

Put on Deodorant - 218 times 

I'm thinking of getting rid of this goal. I have a "Brush Teeth" one that I need to complete twice to get credit. I might merge the two, as they kind of go together and I wouldn't remember one and forget the other. The issue with this is that while I brush my teeth twice I only apply deodorant once.  But I think I could just use common sense.

I'm surprised that I supposedly forgot to apply deodorant 116 times. Potentially, I just forgot to tell the app that I did it. 

Make Coffee - 214 times

I usually make coffee before I leave for work. I get up a little before Lee-Anne, so I make enough for her as well. I don't always do it on the weekends, as there's a chance that she gets up first, or else this number would be higher.

3 Self-Kindness Goals Completed

This was a function that the app tried and at least for me, didn't really take off. They suggested separating your goals into categories, one of which was Self-Kindness. They pushed it for about a week, and I checked it three times I guess, but otherwise didn't pay much attention to this feature.

I definitely have goals that involve self-kindness. I just don't bother to put them into categories so they aren't counted here. 

20 Locations Visited

When you send your Finch on adventures, you can choose to book a plane ticket to different parts of the world. Some of the items that randomly show up in shops will be specific to your location. It also sometimes impacts the interactions you have with your Finch at the end of their adventures. 

Every day that you complete earns 2% of exploration wherever you happen to be. Despite having visited 20 locations, I'm not at 100% for any of them. I simply don't have the patience to stay in one place for that long. Since plane tickets cost Rainbow Stones, I think it's more frugal to complete one location before moving on. 

But I don't think the game is meant to be beaten (which is a good thing), so unless you keep traveling, they will likely continue to add places faster than you can finish them. I would like to eventually have at least started each option.

599 Items Collected

I mentioned it earlier, but these are either clothing items or furniture options for your "bird nest". Phoenix has a bit of a wizard theme, and he lives in a treehouse. 

453 Good Vibes Shared

There is a friending system, and you can send preset positive messages to them, such as a High-Five, Comfort, Water, Encouragement etc. You get a bit of energy for a Good Vibe once per friend per day. I mentioned that Lee-Anne is on Finch. So is my mother and brother, and some of my coworkers.

Though, the person I sent the most Good Vibes to is someone I don't know. At one point, they gave us the option to adopt a friend that didn't have any. The person I got from that is who I've exchanged the most Good Vibes with.