10 apps that help me "Balance it all"

Is that work-life balance thing a myth? Kind of. It's more of a blending of the two. You don't balance work and life, you blend them. But as I often say, that's for another post. Making it through the day to day, maybe with kiddos, and your workload, sometimes a side hustle - it's made doable for today’s woman through modern technology. The digital age has revolutionized what we can do. It’s empowering those already killing it to soar even higher. But only those savvy enough to know how to harness digital transformation will fully benefit. Read on for a quick summary of how I take advantage of what technology has to offer to make it all work!

1. Ipsy
I love vegan makeup and luxe items, but don't have time to spend online or in stores learning about brands. Ipsy does that for me, for just 10 dollars. Every month, I get a small makeup bag with one or two full sized products and a few sample sized items. One of the full sized products is probably worth $10 alone! They always seem to know when I am running out of eyeliner and send some just in time. Just select the vegan/cruelty-free option in Ipsy, and all the items you receive will be good to go for a compassionate woman like you.

1. AnyList
When we were first married, I spent time training my husband to grocery shop for things other than chocolate syrup, vodka, coffee, and peanut butter. As anyone who marries a 37-year-old bachelor probably does, am I right? But how to do this, when I couldn't babysit him at the store, because I have a life? Enter AnyList. It communicates for us -- what all marriages need!

We use AnyList to share lists and add items to the lists, which we both can see. Using the power of Google, AnyList also lets you add any picture from the web into your list, next to an item. So if I need him to see exactly what the organic bagel package looks like, it takes me 30 seconds to fix it in AnyList. You can also import recipes, which is a cool feature I have used a few times, but don't use often due simply to the way I run my kitchen. I know people who love the recipe import feature and use it often.

Anylist has been instrumental for organizing groceries lists, household maintenance to-do lists, and we even have a list for vacations we want to go on together.

We have been using it for about 5 years, and eventually upgraded to the premium subscription. I highly recommend it -- we couldn't do without it.

3. Google Calendar
Share your calendar with your family. Make sure everyone is on it. If it's not on the calendar, it's not happening. It's dead. End of story.

4. Reminders App
Apple has a reminders app, which you tell your phone to put things into. Android has something similar. Use this function. Every day, I'm like "Set a reminder to make a margarita!" And every evening, it reminds me. You get the idea.

5. Facebook - for groups
Wait - it's not the way you have probably been using the same old social media platform. Facebook doesn't help you balance your life unless you use it right. For savvy people, Facebook is primarily used for it’s group functions, as I have mentioned in other posts. This helps me because I can quickly ask a focused group for help solving a problem. Issues related to my kid's sleep, schooling and development, potty training, etc., have loads of folks interested and talking. Vegan questions regarding recipes, substitutes, and new products are easily researched with help from groups. It just makes life easier!

Disclaimer -- you can't trust random folks on the internet for your sole source of information, okay? Do your own research and consult a medical professional about your health for goodness sake!

6. Grocery Ordering -- Clicklist, Cartwheel, and more
We started using this in March of 2018 and it is a life game changer! I actually cannot remember the last time I was in a grocery store. We order groceries (Kroger/ Fred Meyer's) online through the Click List app, and pick up at the store.

Check and see what your favorite grocery store has available for this (most have something at the point) and enroll. Every time I pick up an order without having to get out of the car, the fee I pay for pickup is the best $4.95 I have ever spent.

7. Audible
I have another post where I rave about what I have been able to do via Audible, so I won't delve into that too much here. Suffice to say, I am knowledgeable about current books even though I have absolutely zero time to sit down with a book, thanks to Audible. Truthfully, it is critical in most lines of work to be moderately well-read in a variety of topics. And just like everything in a working woman's life, being busy does not get you any grace here. Use Audible, or use your audio-app from your local library (read: free!) and find yourself prepared in any setting. Being well-read no matter how crazy busy you are will move you farther along in life than you may expect! Again, being busy is not an excuse to fall behind here.

8. Spotify Premium
Similar to the audiobook but for music, I use Spotify to help me stay on top of the new musicians, playlists, and music that makes life enjoyable. Without time to pay attention to music trends, I depend on Spotify to do this for me by linking my current library of songs to other user's playlists and their own recommendations. Spotify learns my preferences and introduces me to new artists. It's like my virtual machine-learning AI musical personal assistant.

9. Any Podcasting app
Podcasts are like radio on demand, very specific to your tastes. They are also like attending a free lecture series, TED talk or similar, every day. It is mind blowing what you can learn and how it can change your life! If you are not already listening, I recommend the Story Brand Podcast to anyone in the working world. I recommend the Overcast Podcast to anyone in the Seattle area looking to stay up on current events. And I recommend the Stuff You Missed in History Class podcast to review, well, you know.

10. Queepsake - text message memory book-maker 
This is probably my all-time favorite new app right now. I am not a scrapbooker or a crafter. I’ve been tricked into these projects before and am always displeased and don’t enjoy! Life is too short, just like I say about hot yoga. But I want to preserve all the memories in a special book for each of my kids. This app gets me there! Queepsake texts me questions about each of my boys, and I answer them, and text in pictures as well. I have it set to a couple questions a week for each child, but can change that frequency as it works for me. I can also text pictures associated with the questions the app asks me, or I can text in random pictures with captions as I take them. Queepsake organizes these questions and photos into a memory book, gradually.

Then, I can log into the app and make changes to my responses, add other information about my child, or drop in more pictures. When the time comes to order a book (first birthday, for example) the book is already 100% made for me. And they're only about $40 dollars each! I am excited this exists because I never have to feel guilty about being the mom who refuses to take out a glue stick and craft!