Time Saving Digital Tools

Time is a precious resource. Here are some wonderful time saving digital tools that will help you in your personal and professional life!

Nonfiction Books Summarized
Nothing can take the place of reading a book, yet so many of us can rarely find the time that it takes. That’s where Blinkist and getAbstract come in. These apps give you key insights of best selling nonfiction books, digestible in as little as 10 to 15 minutes. Blinkist ( IOS | Android ) divides the key insights into short “blinks” so you can consume just a minute or two quickly or easily navigate to the section you wish to focus on. With 40 new titles added monthly, you can be sure to keep up to date on today’s most important books. getAbstract ( IOS | Android ) presents each book in a 10 minute summary with top takeaways, author quotes, and a rating. With over 20,000 titles, getAbstract’s features can help you increase your knowledge and take your career or business to the next level.

Read It Later
So often on the internet you come across articles or videos that you don’t have time to dive into the moment you see them. Pocket ( IOS | Android ) and Instapaper ( IOS | Android ) help you save and organize interesting content to read or watch later, online or offline. These services also allow you to share what you’ve saved and follow others so you can have even more on your to-read/to-watch list. So when you see 100Ninjas tweet out a great article, but you can’t read it right that second, just save it to one of these apps for when you do have time.

Save Time on Grocery Shopping
If you can’t make it to the grocery store, apps like Instacart ( IOS | Android ) and Peapod ( IOS | Android ) get your groceries delivered on the schedule you choose. Simply shop within the app, fill up your cart, and schedule your delivery. You can also discover promotions right within the apps! With Instacart you can receive your groceries as quickly as an hour after you checkout. Peapod offers an added time saving bonus with their line of international and chef inspired meal kits. These include pre-portioned, fresh ingredients that are ready-to-cook.

Save Time on Meal Prep
Peapod isn’t the only service that recognizes that between shopping for fresh ingredients and meal preparation, it can be challenging to eat healthy home-cooked meals.

HelloFresh ( IOS | Android ), Home Chef (IOS | Android ), and Blue Apron ( IOS | Android ) are three popular meal prep subscription services, offering a variety of delicious meals to choose from, including options for different dietary needs. You select how many meals and how many servings you’d like to receive each week. Easy to follow recipes and pre-measured ingredients are included, so you can simply prepare your meal and enjoy.

Freshly ( IOS | Android )–Freshly is a different kind of meal kit service. It is designed for one person and the meals are pre-cooked and only need to be heated up upon arrival. Every meal is gluten free, free from refined sugar, and all natural. When you’re really crunched for time, Freshly is a great option to keep eating healthy meals.

Take Care of Your Home
Hello Alfred –The very first thing Hello Alfred promises when you visit their website is that they are a time-expanding service! Just as you need to manage your business, your home needs a manager too and Hello Alfred offers that. Whether it’s grocery shopping, laundry, or fulfilling prescriptions, your Hello Alfred manager can handle it for you.( IOS | Android )

If you are looking to have a specific task or some repair work done around your home, you might opt for TaskRabbit ( IOS | Android ) or Handy ( IOS | Android ). These services allow you to find someone in your area who is skilled in the project you need done, whether it’s mounting a TV, assembling furniture, installing a light fixture, or painting a bedroom. To get started, you can browse by skills, reviews, and in the case of TaskRabbit, price. Each of these services promises that all workers are prescreened and insured.

Productivity and Focus
Finding more time in your own workflow is always top of mind. These apps will help you stay focused on your goals.

RescueTime –This is a browser plug-in for Chrome and Firefox that keeps track of what you’re doing in your active window or tab so that at the end of the day you know where your time was actually spent. It even goes a step further and categorizes the time spent for you…between productive and distracting. This constant feedback can help you tweak your own routine so that you become more productive.

StayFocusd –We’ve all been working and thought, “Oh, I’ll just check Facebook really quickly!” only to lose hours of our time there. StayFocusd is a Chrome plug-in that lets you set controls to limit time spent on distracting sites. Take it a step further with Cold Turkey , and completely block distracting websites, games, and applications. If you’re not completely ready for that level of commitment, try using Cold Turkey with a daily time limit or pomodoro-style breaks. Whitelist features are available for exceptions. Cold Turkey is available on Windows and Mac supported browsers.

Build Habits That Propel You Forward
Successful businesses are built on a foundation of excellent daily habits. Managing time effectively is an outgrowth of well cultivated habits that govern our lives. These apps will help you develop the habits that will lead to success.

HabitBull –Keep up with as many new habits as you want to develop by tracking your habits in HabitBull. When you start to see the patterns, it keeps you motivated to keep going! HabitBull utilizes a streak counter that shows how long you’ve been successfully meeting your goals, allows you to set flexible goals that work for your schedule, gives you quotes to inspire you on your journey, gives you reminders to complete your tasks, and offers powerful analytics that help you understand the patterns of setting your new habits. ( IOS | Android )

Habitica –This app turns forming new habits into a game! Whether your goals involve health and fitness, school and work, or creative projects, Habitica can make the process fun. There are in-game rewards and punishments depending on how you do! ( IOS | Android )

HabitShare –The mere act of turning something into a social activity can help you accomplish your goals at a speedier pace. HabitShare allows you to share your goals with others for motivation and support. Despite this great emphasis on the social, HabitShare allows you to maintain control over your privacy so that only the friends you want to see your progress will. ( IOS | Android )

Effortlessly Renew Your Wardrobe
Keeping your wardrobe looking fresh and updated takes time, which is why services like Stitch Fix ( IOS | Android ) and Trunk Club ( IOS | Android ) are helpful. How do these styling services work? Both are very similar. You take a style quiz. Your personal stylist then makes selections based on your preferences and sends the items to you. You decide what you want to keep, and return the rest. Trunk Club sends you 12 pieces at a time, allows you to preview your selections before they send them so you can make adjustments, and assigns the same stylist for each time you work with them. Stitch Fix offers styling services for women, men and kids, your stylist is different each time you order and you receive five pieces in each delivery. With both services, you can choose when you’d like to receive your next shipment.

Another great time-saving idea? Hire a Virtual Assistant. Our Ninjas can help you arrange last minute travel plans, find the perfect gift for your globe-trotting brother, coordinate all the details when moving offices, and so much more! Contact 100Ninjas today to learn more.