The Maho’s Corner blog posting hiatus is officially over! To anyone that enjoys or at any point enjoyed my previous blog posts, thank you and I’m sorry it’s been so long since my last update. That being said, it's not without reason. This post is dedicated to what I’ve been working on for the last 8 months. The official announcement of my app I’ve been building, “Lost in Thought”!
Lost in Thought or LiT, is an app dedicated to reflection through journaling. You may be thinking “oh real innovative, another journaling app”, and I think that’s a fair statement. However, Lost in Thought has a few features that make it unique that I think a lot of people will really like.
Before I dive into the details of the app, I want to first start with the backstory of why I decided to build this. At the end of 2024, I had taken a month break from my therapy sessions. Part of the reason being that we were busy with the holidays, but also with the general feeling that I was doing relatively well mentally and could use a break. When I finally reconnected with my therapist, she asked how I was doing and it occurred to me that I had forgotten everything I had intended to talk to her about. After some brief discussion about journaling and how I had previously used journaling on paper, I set out to find a journaling app that I could use. To no surprise, after testing a handful of journaling apps for a month, I couldn’t find one that I really connected with.
Enter, Lost in Thought. I ultimately discovered that if I wanted access to a functional journaling app that I felt a connection with, I was going to have to build it myself! I guess the saying, “if you want something done right, do it yourself” sort of applies here. Originally, I didn’t have an idea for a name for the app, and when working with the designer I hired for the UI/UX, I was asked exactly that question for obvious reasons. I thought of a handful of names which didn’t stick until one night,having some wine with friends and brainstorming, Lost in Thought was born.
It hasn’t been easy building this from scratch, but I’ve learned a tremendous amount while embarking on this journey, as well as discovering some real insightful pieces about myself, thanks to so much journaling! The app is intended to be simple and intuitive for anyone to use, but also rich with features that help you better understand why you’re journaling and how you’re feeling. The mood tracker offers a handful of custom cloud icons to help you log how you’re feeling each day. The streak tracker provides motivation and incentive to keep on top of your journaling habits. Within the actual journal entry piece, there is a feature that allows you to “prompt” the app to get custom responses about your journal entries to encourage further reflection. And lastly, I’ve created a feature that analyzes your entries over the past week and provides a summarized “wrapped” rundown of how your past week went including all the moods you felt!
The app is still currently in beta testing as I continue to iron out some bugs and fine tune the features with the goal being for it to be available on the Apple App Store by the end of the September this year and on the Android App Store shortly thereafter. If you are interested in being a beta tester to help me improve the app, please feel free to contact me directly!
In lieu of everything I just shared, it only feels appropriate to share the other motive for building Lost in Thought, which is my commitment to doing anything I can to help improve mental health for anyone and everyone. I personally have found journaling to be a great outlet for my thoughts and feelings, but also as a simple and accessible resource to better improve my mental health. And honestly, I think it’s working because I have felt the best I’ve ever felt these past few months. There are obviously other factors that can play into that, but I do believe journaling consistently has been a main driver in my overall contentment with life lately.
I’m not sure if Lost in Thought will turn into anything big, but I think that if I can help even one person with my app, it will be a success. There are not enough resources and affordable help available to everyone that needs it. I plan to continue dedicating my time outside of family, friends, and work to the betterment of mental health. The world is full of joy and beauty that everyone deserves to see. Life is truly worth living, and hey while you’re at it, you might as well journal about it whenever you’re lost in thought.
