8 Tech Tools to Ease Your Holiday Stress
It’s holiday season. A time for joy, treats, festivities, and—undoubtedly—a hefty serving of stress. There’s shopping, wrapping, baking, and entertaining. And, if you’re a Ninja charged with the task of managing holiday celebrations and gift exchanges for your office, your holiday stress is doubled.
Don’t start breathing into a paper bag just yet! There are plenty of handy resources that can help to ease some of that holiday anxiety—and I’m not just talking about a third serving of spiked eggnog (although, that definitely helps).
These tech tools are so slick and helpful, they’ll make even Santa’s most productive elves jealous. So, put a few of these to work, and take some time to kick back and relax this holiday season!
1. Save Time with Workflow
This time of year is practically designed to keep you busy. And, with tons of photo snapshots, RSVPs, and shopping lists, I’m willing to bet you spend a ton of time coordinating and moving things around on your phone. With Workflow, you can automate your common routines and save yourself some precious minutes (or hours) each day. This central app connects different apps and actions together to create—you guessed it—workflows for the things that you do on your device. With over 200 actions available, you’re sure to create something that’s helpful to you!
2. Get Feedback with Typeform
After your next company holiday event, wouldn’t it be great to find out what your attendees thought of the celebration, without having to go around and ask if they enjoyed themselves? Typeform allows you to easily create beautiful, user-friendly online surveys in order to find out what guests really thought of your corporate holiday event. Or, think outside of the box and use Typeform to put together sign up sheets for your Secret Santa gift exchange or a fun contest for your holiday party. Your options are limitless!
3. Exchange Gifts with Elfster
Gone are the days of pulling names out of a hat in the breakroom. Using Elfster, organizing your office Secret Santa gift exchange is a total breeze. Set up the online exchange using the easy-to-use dashboard, and eliminate all of that inevitable office confusion! Even better? Using Elfster, you can also create a wishlist so that your Secret Santa can kiss that gift-buying anxiety goodbye. Just like the real Santa, they’ll know exactly what you want.
4. Get Cookin’ with Paprika
Whether you’re whipping together holiday treats to share with the office or you’re planning a full-blown turkey dinner for your family, this time of year definitely involves a lot of hours in the kitchen. Keep all of your recipes and meal inspiration in order with Paprika (the app, not the spice). Using this handy app, you can organize all of your recipes, create grocery lists, and even make meal plans. If nothing else, it’s sure to save you all of those last-minute trips to the grocery store!
5. Be Productive with Noisli
As if the holidays aren’t busy enough, you still need to manage to stay focused and productive in the office. Use Noisli to kick your productivity into high gear and work your way through that daunting to-do list. The app will block out noise, so your co-worker in the next cubicle over can go ahead and blast Feliz Navidad on repeat. It also claims to reduce stress—something we could all use during this hectic time of year!
6. Stay Fit with Fitocracy
Let’s be honest—indulging in tons of delicious treats is one of the best parts of the holiday season. But, if you don’t want to totally lose focus on your personal health, check out Fitocracy. Using the app, you’ll get a personal coach that conducts a fitness assessment, creates a nutrition plan, builds personalized workouts, and just generally keeps you motivated. If nothing else, at least all your pants will still fit by the time the new year hits.
7. Be Zen with Headspace
There’s no doubt that all of the stress of the holidays can take a toll on you both physically and mentally. Stay calm and centered using Headspace—which is essentially like a gym membership for your mind. It’s a meditation app that is sure to help you find some mental clarity and peace of mind in just 10 minutes per day. Even if you’ve never meditated before, this app is sure to become your new best friend.
8. Get Personal with MailLift
I’m definitely all for the ease and convenience of email. But, there’s a lot to be said for a handwritten note. The only downside? Writing cards and messages by hand takes tons of time—something you’re undoubtedly short on during the holidays. (And can we talk about how badly your hands will hurt after writing dozens of notes by hand?) Luckily, MailLift will do all of that time-consuming work for you. That’s right, real people will handwrite your notes or address your envelopes. It’s a great personal touch for all of those company holiday cards you’re in charge of mailing!
The holidays are a blast, but they’re also a busy time of year that bring along a sleigh-full of stress. But, thanks to technology, this time of year doesn’t need to be that anxiety inducing. Use these tech tools, and you’re sure to feel like you have your own workshop of elves doing your dirty work for you!
Are there any other great tech tools we should know about this holiday season? What are your favorites?