How Software Can Help You Live a Better Life

What Exactly Is a Better Life?

The first thing that we should determine is what exactly is a better life? Does a better life mean you have more money? More family time? More time for exercise? Or does it mean more candy breaks? Of course, it differs for everyone, but let’s choose a list of what we will call “better life goals”, so we are all on the same page.

Through some in-depth online research, I have compiled this list of things that the internet deems “better life goals”:

• Set up and stick to a routine.
• Enjoy a part of every day.
• Start your day the night before.
• Do that thing you’ve always wanted to try.
• Get a workout in.
• Read the news.
• Listen to uplifting music.
• Read books.
• Learn a new skill.
• Indulge in some comfort food.
• Take a different route to work.
• Drink water as soon as you wake up.
• Get a full night’s sleep.

Now that we know some ways to live a better life, let’s find some software and apps that can help you accomplish some of the suggestions.

Enjoy A Part of Every Day.

A great way to enjoy the little things is to make the little things more rewarding. To do this, we recommend downloading a gamification app on your phone. Gamification apps like Habitica allow you to set up your daily tasks as goals. The more you achieve, the more points you get. You can level up, unlock bonuses and lose health points if you miss daily goals. Gamification is a great new trend and a perfect motivational tool to help you through your day!

Do That Thing You’ve Always Wanted to Try.

Join BucketListly. BucketListly allows you to set bucket list items, browse others’ bucket list items, set goals and due dates, and follow along with others as they complete their bucket list items. Using this app, you can find new things to try as well as find out how others completed things that you always wanted to try.

Get A Workout In.

You want to workout, but are lacking motivation? Here is a unique solution. Charity Miles is a mobile app that tracks the miles you run, walk or jog and transfers that into donations for charity. Every mile that users complete get transferred into money that corporate sponsors donate to the charity of their choice.

Read the News.

Just a simple google for “news app” brings up hundreds of possible apps that you can use to get your news. These include BuzzFeed, SmartNews, Google News & Weather, Feedly, Flipboard, Yahoo News Digest and Reddit among thousands of others. Instead of just downloading an app, we recommend setting a reminder for yourself. At least once per day, have a reminder that comes through your phone that reminds you to read a news article.

Listen to Uplifting Music.

With streaming services like Spotify or Apple Music, you can browse playlists that others have created and build your own. Find something uplifting or try listening to something brand new. Whether your walking, riding the train or working away, there is always some time for music.

Read Books.

Yes, books still exist. Go on Amazon Shopping and order a new book to your house for the end of the week or use a book app like Google Play Books or iReadItNow to read your favourite books from your mobile device.

Learn a New Skill

Whether it be unicycling, knife juggling or something less dangerous like learning to code FileMaker with our FileMaker Training program (shameless plug!). Regardless of which new skill that you want to learn, go for it. Learning a new skill not only stimulates the brain, but it gives you a great conversation starter: “I am a very impressive unicycler who can also juggle knives.” Impressive.

Indulge in Some Comfort Food.

Indulging in comfort food makes everyone feel better. That’s a fact. However, if you are looking for something different, but are not sure what to make, we have a solution for you. Head over to Recipe Roulette and spin the wheel. You can even filter your choices by cuisine, main ingredient or course.

Take A Different Route to Work.

Yes, you can use Google Maps or your GPS to find the quickest way to work, but what if you want to switch it up. I recommend you try out Round – Navigation for Scenic Routes. This app takes you on the most scenic route available and also has a community of users who post images about their scenic adventures.

Drink Water as Soon as You Wake Up.

Why is the letter T like an island? Because it is always in the middle of water!...

Okay enough of that. Let’s find some software that is better than that joke. An app that reminds you to drink water and does a great job at tracking your statistics is Waterlogged. Try out the app and make sure you get your daily amount of water.

Get A Full Night’s Sleep.

Sleep is a funny thing. Everyone needs it, it happens everyday, yet no one ever seems to get enough of it. The best way to get the most out of the time you do actually sleep is to understand how you sleep. Using tools such as Sleep Genius app, you can find out your sleep patterns, your quality of sleep and, most importantly, tips to help you sleep better.

Break Bad Habits

Whether it be biting your nails, smoking cigarettes, eating snack foods, or just spending to much time on Facebook, whatever your “bad” habit is, we all know it is hard to quit. Now how can software help you quit these habits? There are several habit-breaking apps that can help you out. These include Quit That! and 7 Weeks. Every day is progress and these tools can help you kick your habit.

Conclusion – How Software Can Help You Live a Better Life

So, all in all, there are many ways to make your life better and, luckily, many helpful tools to help you get there. Whether you need more sleep, more water or just better self-control, there are not just apps that can help you out, but many of them have communities that you can reach out to for support. Something else you may need is your own custom developed software system. If that is what you are looking for, be sure to fill out a contact form and one of our specialists will get back to you as soon as possible. Now, we don’t know the answers to all of life’s question, but we believe these software tools can at least help make life a little better. And sometimes that is all people really need.

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And as always

Thanks for Reading!

Steve Malott