Managing a full time job, children and a home can quickly become overwhelming and exhausting. Your mental energy is pulled in so many directions simultaneously that it’s easy to forget to give the dog his monthly flea and tick medicine or that your spouse has an after hours work function that alters the normal daycare pick up.
As a mom who recently went back to work full time, I’m leveraging my phone in new ways to stay on top of it all. Below are my favorite apps to ensure my work, family and home are all in balance.
Clock
I use the clock app in two main capacities: the timer and alarm functions.
There’s constantly a timer running in my house. Sometimes it serves as my reminder to switch the laundry over. Sometimes it is an indicator to my little ones that their food is cool enough to eat. And every night, after an amount of time determined by them (within reason of course), it’s our signal to stop what we are doing and all head upstairs for bedtime.
I also have a minimum of three alarms scheduled for every weekday. The first is to wake me up for my morning workout. The second is 15 minutes before the end of my workday to let me know it’s time to wrap things up and make tomorrow’s to do list. And, right now, there’s one set for 5:30 reminding me to give my five year old his supplement for some belly issues. It’s also not uncommon for me to add a fourth throughout the day if something comes up that I need to handle that evening. For example, if I promise a coworker I’ll bring something in for them and I want to put it in my car the night before.
Calendar
In addition to the traditional uses for the calendar app like appointments and weekend commitments, my calendar includes reminder events such as watering the plants at 6:00 PM on Mondays and Thursdays. It’s also where my husband and I communicate any evening commitments to ensure we aren’t double booked.
I also make a point to review the reminder settings for each event. Google calendar is defaulted to 30 minutes but sometimes I need an hour or two to accommodate work wrap up and travel time. Or I’ll add a reminder for a week before for a birthday so I can buy a gift.
Libby
Libby is an app that, once connected to your library card, allows you to borrow ebooks and audiobooks. In addition to reading a fiction ebook every night before bed, I also usually have a nonfiction audiobook on loan to listen to while I run. I find both times (running and bedtime), it’s best for my mental health to have something to focus on that doesn’t let me get lost in the everyday worries and thoughts.
Stitcher
Similar to the nonfiction audiobook, I also have Stitcher queued up almost every morning and rotating through a few of my favorite podcasts while I get ready for the day. My three go-tos right now are the Happier podcast with Gretchen Rubin, “Freakonomics Radio” with Stephen Dubner and Guy Raz/NPR’s “How I Built This”. It’s a good week when I’m able to listen to the new episodes from all three.
MapMyRun
Whether you run, bike or walk, this is a great app to track your workouts. I use my phone during runs anyway to listen to Libby, so it’s a free, easy way to track my running stats at the same time. It even communicates at your designated intervals (the default is one mile) your distance, overall time and pace.
Instacart
While I don’t take advantage of grocery pickup every single week, on the weeks I do the Instacart app is easy to use and makes the pickup process practically effortless. Admittedly the prices are slightly higher than in store, but I figure the impulse purchases I don’t make offset them. I even hit the “I’m on my way” button, which allows the Aldi employee to have my order pulled from the cooler and freezer and ready for me when I get there. Including the half mile trip off the highway to get to the store, it adds no more than 10 minutes to my commute.
Google App Suite
While the Google App Suite is extensive, the three I use nearly everyday are News, Sheets and Docs. I appreciate that whether I’m at work or at home, on my laptop or phone or want to share a file with others, Google apps are always at my fingertips with the most current version.
Every morning I start my day with Google News. I love that the feed is curated for me based on my saved searches, favorite sources and the headlines I’ve chosen to “thumbs up or down”. There are also options to view trending in the US, world, major sectors and, presently, Covid-19.
In Google Sheets I maintain our budget and balance sheet, which allows me to easily share with my husband. I also have a tracker in there for a couple of my “21 in 21” goals including reading and working out for an average of 21 minutes a day. Again, whether it’s recording my run on my phone as soon as I’m done or capturing my reading stats when I get my iPad’s screen time report on Sunday morning, I’m able to quickly and easily update the file.
Finally, Google Docs has been useful for lists I have to share with my husband, such as to do before a trip or groceries if who is doing the shopping is to-be-determined. A minor but favorite feature of mine is the checklist option on the toolbar right next to bulleted and numbered lists. It’s not quite as satisfying as crossing it off on good old pen and paper, but it’s close enough.
It takes a village — and a lot of tools — to raise a family. Thankfully these apps help me be more efficient and effective, which ultimately means more quality time with my family.