Build a happier and healthier life with these 5 apps, at the office and beyond

The holidays are around the corner. Therefore, it’s time once again to reset your focus on the changes you would like to see in the upcoming year. Being more healthy and organized were the top two resolutions for 2017. Why not combine them both and kill two birds with one stone this coming year?

Thanks to technology, you can hit your health and wellness goals in the office and boost your productivity all at once. Here are five apps and tools that will help you build habits to make this next year your best year.

1. Streaks

If you’ve got a competitive side to you, then you know there’s no better feeling than breaking records or outdoing the next guy. For the sake of developing good habits, make yourself your toughest competitor and try to top personal bests.

Streaks keeps track of how many days in a row you complete your selected habits. From daily tasks like flossing, to weekly reminders like taking out the trash, this app will make sure you stay consistent.

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Streaks is incredibly helpful for building healthy lifestyle habits. For example, there are step counters that will remind you to take a quick stroll around the office, along with heart rate monitoring through the Apple Watch app. Currently, Streaks is only available on iTunes, but the Android-friendly version should hit the market soon.

2. Workzone

Team projects can be frustrating and difficult. No matter how productive you may be, one weak link can cause major repercussions, such as missed deadlines or shoddy work. Using an effective task management tool can eliminate common project killers, like miscommunication or bad leadership.

Workzone is a robust online project management tool that will help you and your team stay productive throughout the day. Managers can quickly assign tasks, and the user-friendly interface breaks down huge projects into smaller workflows with progression monitoring along the way.

The team calendar helps everyone stick to a schedule with deadline reminders and real-time tracking. Workzone is a software program available for desktop only, and their pricing varies based on the team size.

If one of your new year’s resolutions is to improve productivity levels, Workzone is a fantastic place to start.

3. Tobi

Healthy workers are effective workers. Setting new health goals is one of the most common occurrences as the new year approaches. Sometimes, it can take a village to help you achieve them. Trying to manage healthy lifestyle choices and changes on your own can be discouraging. It’s surprisingly easy to forget to do things like take your daily vitamins or schedule your next doctor’s appointment.

Tobi is a collaborative caregiving app that makes it easy to build a community that cares about your health. The dynamic tool keeps track of your own wellbeing, as well as your family and friends. It tracks changes in weight fluctuations and blood pressure with comprehensive reports.

The app will also send reminders to take medications, get refills, or head to the gym. All while your community of followers support you throughout every step of the way. Tobi is available on iTunes and Android.

4. Hazeover

The sad truth is that humans are simply not designed to multi-task. In fact, trying to juggle too many thoughts at once is actually bad for your brain. It increases stress hormones and lowers problem-solving capabilities, especially when you are online. Having multiple tabs open causes more distraction than action, and can slow down productivity quite a bit.

Hazeover is an online program that helps you visually focus on the task at hand by fading distractions in the background.

It covers unused tabs and screen clutter while highlighting whatever program or website you are currently using. Hazeover is available on the iTunes store. You can also get a free trial directly from their website.

If staying focused on one task at a time is part of your 2018 goals, Hazeover is a must-have program.

5. Time Out

One of the common new year’s resolutions these days is to cut down on screen time. Whether you’re at the office or sitting at home, you are probably spending too much time staring at one. Not only does this lead to eye strain, it can actually have long term effects on to the frontal lobe and even cause brain damage. Yikes!

While some may go as far as wearing light blocking eye-wear to avoid strain, studies have shown that just taking a few seconds every 20 minutes to look away from the bright screen can reduce damage. For this purpose, Time Out is an app that sends a reminder for you to take a break every once in a while.

You can customize the times so it doesn’t interfere with important tasks or bother you during intense focus sessions. It will even track how many breaks you take and help establish a healthy habit that your eyes will thank you for. Time Out is available on the iTunes store.

In Conclusion

Improving productivity levels and creating a healthier lifestyle are long term goals. Both require a great deal of effort and determination. The office is a perfect place to start developing habits to accomplish more and become smarter, healthier, and happier in 2018 and beyond.