“We’re all busy little bees, full of stings, making honey day and night.”
Bette Davis had it right. With so much on the go, and only 24 hours in a day, how do you make the best of your time? How do you make your life ‘easier,’ while still completing all your tasks and finding some time to enjoy your life in the process?
Thankfully, “there’s an App for that.” Many apps. With thousands of ones to choose from, we’ve narrowed it down to 8 tried-and-true apps we think are pretty great.
Many apps. With thousands of ones to choose from, we’ve narrowed it down to 8 tried-and-true apps we think are pretty great.
Give them a try, we guarantee at least a few of them will help simplify your life so you can maximize your productivity and reduce some stress. (You’re welcome).
We all know we need secure passwords to keep our information safe. But have you ever needed to login to something and just can’t remember your password? Your backup information has changed and now it’s a huge, time-wasting run around just to get into your account? 1Password is here to prevent that. It is a password manager – the secret to easily keeping all your passwords secure. You simply add 1 master password and you’ll be able to access all of your accounts without having to remember each individual, unbreakable code you’ve created. But 1Password does even more than that. In addition to password storage, it will keep track of notes, credit cards, driver licenses, receipts, medical information, etc. Give it a try for free!
Your own personal assistant! Google Assistant is a souped-up version of Google Now. Similar to Siri, Alexa and Cortana, it will search the web, keep track of your agenda, search the web, adjust your phone’s volume and posting to social media, etc. It covers all these, and a whole lot more. Google Assistant is unique and advanced in that it really gets to know you and is designed to give you more conversational interactions. The consensus so far is that Google Assistant is lightyears ahead of Siri, Alexa and Cortana, and it is going to make a huge impact in how we get through our daily routines.
Think Audiobooks are just for kids? Wrong. Audiobooks are great for adults, too. They’re portable – so you can plug in and listen whenever, wherever. Audible is a great app with 150,000+ books to access. It is compatible on iPhone, Android, Kindle and other listening devices. What’s more, Audible offers an unlimited membership at an affordable price – just $14.95/month (and a FREE Trial!). What have you got to lose? We suggest trying it out on your next road trip!
Asana is an excellent, user-friendly task management tool. Within it, you create your own virtual ‘workspaces,’ and within each workspace, you assign yourself (or others) tasks. Each task allows users to add notes, comments, attachments, etc. When the task is complete, or its status changes, you may mark it as such, and any followers of that task will be updated. We highly recommend Asana for anyone with a lot on their plate who just needs some assistance organizing and managing their time in order to be efficient.
Trello is a web-based project management application. With a lot of options for customization and creativity, users create ‘boards’. These boards are where you create ‘lists” containing tasks or projects. Each list contains ‘cards’ which correspond to different tasks. Cards are progressed from one list to the next (drag-and-drop format) as they flow through the completion process. Boards may be shared and/or grouped into ‘organizations’ if necessary. Trello is a great workflow management tool to help keep you organized and on schedule!
Forgot your wallet? Misplaced your debit card? No big deal! Apple Pay is a sophisticated payment system designed to streamline your shopping and make your life a little simpler. It enables you to use your iPhone or Apple Watch as payment at store checkouts by pulling credit and debit card information from the Wallet app. It is secure and intuitive, providing ease of use and peace of mind in one shot. Learn more about where and how to use Apple Pay here.
To meet your business and personal productivity goals, be sure to take care of yourself first! Mike’s Macros is arguably the best in health and fitness tools. Designed to keep you on top of your goals, it is functional, easy to use, and has proven results. Users can either set their own targets, or use Mike’s scientific equations to calculate your daily macronutrient (protein, carbs, fats) intake. Customize it for rest or training days and alternate between macros ‘tracked’ and ‘remaining.’ What’s unique about Mike’s Macros is that it contains motivational tools (Mike’s videos) within it as well to keep you excited and continually progressing each day. It has an exceptionally accurate food and drink database – taking the guesswork out of portion control and allowing you to be ultra-precise. Mike also offers custom nutrition and training plans and he’s one of the best in the biz!
A customizable news reading app, Flipboard is your very own personal magazine. It is the single place to follow topics you care about and share stories, photos and videos that inspire you. Choose your topics, subtopics, geographical areas, and people you want to follow, etc. Articles, videos and photos are beautifully arranged in a grid of varying sizes where you may choose to simply click and read, or add to your own magazine. Flipboard’s goal is to give you the ‘latest and greatest,’ and provides an ‘at-glance’ look at what you care about so you don’t become overwhelmed with content.
We’ve done our best to narrow down the top life-simplifying apps to integrate into your daily routine. Give them a try today, you’ll thank us later!