How Tech Will Save Your New Year's Resolution
January 04, 2018 |
Workplace Tips
If it's not turning out as well as you'd hoped - don't kick yourself. We're all guilty of setting and embarking on unrealistic New Year’s resolutions. However, don't let a lack of follow-through or a winter weather slump keep you from a better you, it's not too late to add intuitive tech to help encourage, monitor and assist you in reaching your 2018 goals. Here are some of our favorite New Year's resolution-assisting apps and tech to help you accomplish more in 2018.
Health
Exercise More
For those looking to get out and move this year, consider adding a fitness tracker to the mix! A Fitbit (starting at $59.95) can help you track your daily activities including caloric intake, steps, sleep patterns, weight and more. Moreover, all this information syncs with Fitbit’s free app allowing you to view your progress across time as well as interact (and compete - step challenge anyone?) with others on the app.
Want to amp it up? Pair your Fitbit and the Fitbit app with MyFitnessPal (available on both iOS and Android devices). This free health and wellness app enables users to track your food intake, weight, and exercise and translated this information into calories and/or macro nutrients.
Get More Sleep
Americans are forever sleep deprived, and I don’t know about you, but catching some more z’s is on my 2018 to-do. The good news is it’s surprisingly easy. If you are an Apple user, they have the new built-in Bedtime feature under the Clock application which allows you to keep an eye on your sleep habits via bedtime reminders, wake-up alarms, as well as sleep analysis. Don’t have an apple phone? Try the Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock.
Drink More Water
Looking for a manageable health goal to start the new year off right? Try drinking more water. Whether you’re hoping to boost weight loss, improve your energy for daily activities, or even opt for a better complexion, consuming lots of water is a sure way to improve your health. The Hidrate Spark water bottle ($54.95 each) was deveopled to help you do just that. This Bluetooth water bottle will record how much you drink and help you meet your daily hydration goal. Using an internal light core, the Spark gently glows to remind you to stay hydrated and conveniently syncs with your Fitbit, smart Watch, and wellness apps (including MyFitnessPal) to keep you on the right track.
Get Learning
Read More
One of the most common resolutions (outside improved health) I’ve seen this year has been the goal of reading more. In fact, I have seen numerous articles about people hoping to read a book for every week of 2018, but without the right tools reaching that 52 book goal can be tricky. Audible ($14.95 a month), one of my favorite apps, allows you to read to your heart’s content without the constraints of time, place, or activity. In other words, it makes it easier to spend more time reading and finishing great books.
Aim To Be More Informed
We have talked about podcasts in a number of our articles but, to be honest, we can’t get enough of them. Whether you listen on the Apple Podcasts app, Stitcher, or Spotify, you have a world of untapped stories, news, and opinions at your fingertips. Listen to a true crime series while you work, Learn about social psychology while at the gym, or spice up your commute with curated TED Talks- the opportunities are endless.
Not into listening to your news? No problem. Texture is a new application (available for free with apple, android, and Amazon Fire products along with subscription starting at $9.99/month) which allows you access to over 200 of the most popular magazines all in one place. From Wired to the New Yorker and everything in between, keeping up with the year’s most important stories has never been easier.
Learn A New Skill
Do your resolutions center around learning something new? That’s awesome! There are so many resources to help you along the way. From the Great Courses to Code Academy, the internet is full of incredible hands-on and video-enabled learning opportunities to prepare you. Hoping to improve your culinary skills this year? Try Alice Water’s Masterclass on home cooking. Looking to take up photography? The Great Courses have a video series to help you nail down the fundamentals. Aiming to build out your resume with the addition of a new programming language? Code Academy is happy to give you a crash course in Ruby.
Get Organized
Getting down to business? Now your projects, to-do lists, notes, and favorite items from every corner of the Internet can all be synced on Evernote Regardless of device, Evernote will store your sketches, audio, videos, texts, and PDFs in personalized folders which you can easily share and invite others to edit.
Save More
Mint is a free budgeting app created by the company who brought you TurboTax and Quicken. The app, which is available for both Android and iOS, creates a personalized budget for you based on your financial needs. It also notifies you of unusual charges, informs you how to reduce spending, monitor their credit score, and track and pay bills. Saving has never been so straightforward.
Land a New Job
Last, but most definitely not least, 14% of US adults made it their resolution to find a new job this year, and TAJ is here to remedy that. Visit our jobs page to stay up to date on all the resolution-exceeding jobs in your area.