How many of you have stuck to your New Years resolutions? Honestly?
If you’ve set out on your New Years Resolutions and they’ve started to go south, I’ve got a handy little post today to help give them a boost, with a little help from my friend, technology!
In today’s world, we are spoiled with everything at our fingertips, and some great tools to help keep those resolutions going, even if you’ve fallen off the wagon. Get back on and see them through… It’s only February people, so you still have time!
According to TIME magazine, the 10 most common New Years’ Resolutions include:
1. Lose Weight and Get Fit
This one is at the top of my list, and I am sure many others too! I mean, after all the indulging we do over the holidays, those pounds (or Kilos rather) pile on, and before you know it you’re buying a size up.
You need motivation! And what better way to get motivated than to see results? The new Fitbit Charge is a wristband that displays real-time fitness stats like steps, distance, calories burned, floors climbed and the number of minutes you’ve been active.
You don’t even need to go to a gym (although it’s probably a good idea).
Get active in your daily life; park further away at shopping malls, go for evening walks and spend weekends doing fun things like hiking, swimming or playing outside in the garden with the kids.
Get your Fitbit Charge from the iStore for R1 899.
2. Quit Smoking
Bad habits are hard to break, but that doesn’t mean you can’t break them. The Twisp is a great e-cigarette that replaces your stinky, tar filled cigarettes, but still gives you that nicotine fix.
This weekend I met someone who told me they used to smoke 60 (yes, SIXTY) cigarettes a day, and he became “gatvol” of smoking and the hefty price tag. He used to spend R3k a month! Hello, that’s a fabulous pair of shoes right there!
Now that he’s “Twisping”, he spends R800 a month, and he doesn’t feel deprived.
Prices of the Twisp vary from R699.95 upwards and flavours start at R199.95
3. Learn Something New
My hubby is obsessed with Reddit TIL (Today I Learned) lately.
TIL is a huge, online archive of interesting tidbits and facts that just make for some interesting reading. You can learn the most random things in bite-sized snippets (with a link to the source for more in depth reading) and tons of new TIL’s are added daily.
You can discover some totally random facts, like, for instance that the 2-month salary rule for engagement rings is a marketing ploy designed by De Beers diamond cartel, and that 2014 was McDonald’s worst year in a decade. That space smells like “seared steak” or “hot metal” to astronauts, or that it took Pearl Jam around 70 attempts to record the song ‘Even Flow’.
Fascinating stuff!
Download the Today I Learned App for IOS (which curates most of it’s content from Reddit) or download this one for Android in the Play Store.
Otherwise visit www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned and become your own little brainbox.
4. Eat Healthier and Diet
I love food and who doesn’t really? To eat healthier, doesn’t mean you need to deprive yourself of flavour or taste.
Scour the internet, and from the bazillions of healthy eating websites save the recipes to Evernote Food. Then tag your “notes” in Evernote with keywords to describe your meals and when you’re “in the mood” for something, just search the tags.
Try these healthy eating and dieting apps: The Personal Diet by Nutrino or My Diet Coach. If you need some meal planning ideas, try Healthy Recipes by Spark Recipes.
5. Get out of Debt and Save Money
There are some cool apps to help you manage your finances which can help you save money too…
Groupon offers a great way to save your hard earned cash by giving you loads of deals and offers. Register for free and download the Mobile App to make life easier.
Then, to keep track of your expenses, Expensify is a great tool. It scans your receipts and can build reports for you quickly and easily.
6. Spend More Time With The Family
Think of fun things to do, then make them more fun by recording cool video clips and playing around with motion. The new IOS camera allows you to record Slow-Mo and Time-Lapse videos which can be tons of fun!
Take your iPad along on your next family outing and record some fun vids! I’ve been having a blast with the cool video features on my iPad Air2.
And I can even go extreme and record stuff in “not-so-safe-for-ipad-situations” with the awesome Griffin Survivor Slim Case for iPad Air2. It’s a military grade cover that’s seriously tough!
In a nutshell, it helps to protect your iPad from extreme conditions such as dirt, sand, rain, shock, vibration, and more!
The best thing about this case, in addition to protecting the iPad, is that it makes accesing your dock connector, headphone port, hold switch, camera, volume controls and all that jazz, easy!
Since I’ve dropped my previous iPad2 (twice for that matter), I need this heavy duty case, and with it to protect my iPad Air2, I can pretty much be as daring as I need to be – which of course, makes for more interesting family video clips!
Get your Griffin Survivor Slim Case for the iPad Air2 from the iStore for R999.
7. Travel to New Places
I have a serious case of Wanderlust, 24/7.
I’d love to go out and explore the world, and while this may seem like a far away dream, traveling to “new places”, doesn’t necessarily have to involve airplanes and boarding passes.
We have such beauty in our back yard! South Africa is a land filled with pretty destinations to “travel” to and you can get there just by spending a couple of hours road tripping.
But you’ll need a map to get you there. That’s why I love Waze. It’s a free, community based traffic and navigation app that works on both IOS and Android devices.
And since I’m hooked on Waze I’ve packed away my Garmin, so I use the Kenu Airframe+ For Smartphones to keep my iPhone 6 at eye level while I’m traveling.
The Kenu Airframe+ has an expandable jaw and the new ‘plus’ version holds your cell phone (including the iPhone 6 Plus with a cover, and my hubby’s Note3 with a massive battery pack) securely in your dash air-vent.
Plus it also doubles as a mini stand for Skype calling and watching videos (not in your car of course), by simply slotting a card into the claw.
Get your Kenu Airframe+ for Smartphones from the iStore for R449
8. Be Less Stressed
Ahh, a big one and let me tell you, a tough one! I’ve found that you have to physically slow yourself down, breathe and you will feel more relaxed.
And there are apps to help with that too!
Deep Relax is a pretty cool app with music that can help to calm you for mediation and relax you for restful sleep.
You can choose the type of music you require, for example; sounds of the beach, bells, birds, frogs, caverns, chants, ocean sounds, chimes, music box or city sounds. The cool thing with this app is that you can customize multiple sounds to create your own sound of relaxation.
If you need more “assistance”, try the Guided Mind App – It’s got a bunch of mini meditations that last between 2-3 minutes, which you can enjoy for free. Or purchase specific ones for what you’re feeling stressed about.
9. Volunteer
If you’re keen on doing something good this year, you can find great volunteering opportunities online. I know, it’s not an app or a gadget, but hey if you find out about the different causes online, it’s still technically using technology to help you find a placement.
Check out volunteering programmes by the Wild Life Act and the Johannesburg Dream Centre.
10. Drink Less
I’m not much of a drinker, so this one is easy for me, but I know that it’s not easy for everyone! The key to indulgence is to do it in moderation. A glass of wine, champers or a beer every now and then is not bad, so try limit your drinking to a “treat” rather than a full on binge.
Instead of just drinking for the sake of drinking, save alcohol for a treat, to be enjoyed. And the best way to do that is with a fabulous cocktail on the weekends. Just one!
Check out the Cocktail Flow App for a wide selection of cocktail recipes and if you really want to limit the alcohol intake, then replace the alcohol content with club soda instead.
Put it in a pretty glass, with a funky straw and a mini umbrella, and you’ll love it more. Presentation is everything!
Hopefully this little guide will give you a bit of boost to keep those resolutions in check. If you’re using technology to help out with your resolutions, comment below, I’d love to hear them.
Ciao
D
