Top Wellness Apps For Work Life Balance
Think back to when you were a student in either high school or college. As you recall various memories, pay attention to one fact – there was clear structure to how your time was spent. Classes had a set time of day on a weekly basis. The same can be said about your extracurricular activities. Of course, the evenings are dedicated to homework as were the weekends. From top to bottom, there was a natural flow to your life that let itself to what is often referred to as a work-life balance. But can you honestly say this same balance is present in your current life? The fact that you opened this article might be enough.
No matter how you choose to approach it, striking this balance is hard when you are the sole party responsible for making it happen. This is especially true in a world filled with work-from-home opportunities as stepping away from work is that much harder. A detailed daily planner can be extremely helpful but only if you are intentional and consistent about filling it out ahead of time. Some have found success in simply keeping strict hours for themselves. How you arrive at a work life balance is not important, it is arriving there that is important. Author Gary W. Keller highlighted why this is the case, “Work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls—family, health, friends, and integrity—are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered.”
But what if there was a more effective way to go about this? This is due to the overwhelming number of wellness apps which specialize in promoting a healthy work life balance. To help you sort the wheat from the chaff, we have compiled a list of the top apps.
1. Timeneye
Have you ever wanted a minute by minute breakdown on how you spend your time throughout the day? It is more than possible with the free app Timeneye. Maybe that sounds like more of an awakening than you are prepared for. Afterall, do you really want to know all the ways you waste time throughout the day? But assuming you are ready to chase after a work balance, introspection like this is necessary. Timeneye just makes it easier.
“I think apps like Timeneye are perfect for the person who needs a little more structure to their day," said Dr. Michael Green, Chief Medical Officer at Winona. "Not only do they give you reports on your habits, they also offer suggestions to make better use of your time. It’s the best of both worlds.”
Though, maybe you do not have any reservations about reviewing how you spend your time. Instead, you are concerned about the usability of such an app. Does it work? Is it easy to understand? Does it apply to a variety of lifestyles? The short answer - yes. But, the truly great news here is that Timeneye offers a top-of-the-line user interface that makes your time management information so clear you literally cannot miss it.
“Work-life balance does not come naturally in the busy world of today," said Randee Machina, Director of Marketing at Simpli Pleasures. "If you want it in your own life, you have to take practical steps. Sometimes, you need some help with this and that’s where a time management app like Timeneye comes in.”
2.Space
Be it emotional, physical, or mental, every one of us needs space at some point. It is healthy for a variety of reasons. But, that is not what we are here to talk about. What we are here for is the wellness app which allows its users to find their phone/life balance, aptly named Space. Why phone/life balance and not work life balance here? Well, surely you can recall sitting down at home after a long day at work only to get sucked into a work-related app. This is what Space aims to avoid.
“By using Space, I was able to see where I needed to cut back when it came to work duties," said Karim Hachem, VP of eCommerce at La Blanca. "It was so normal for me to be working on my phone regardless of where I was.”
Space accomplishes this in two steps.The first step is to assign each app to a category. Face it, you have some apps that are far more suited to post-work activities than the working hours. Conversely, spending your evening combing through your work email makes little sense when you realize no one is paying you for this. Once the apps are organized as work and non-work, Space begins to monitor the when and frequency of your use, giving you notifications if you are over a specific limit.
“I introduced Space to my team in order to try and keep them from getting distracted by their phones and it’s really done wonders," said Jayme Muller, Brand Manager at RTA Outdoor Living. "Even my team members will tell you that taking a break from their phones in the right spots has been good for them.”
3. Cozi
Truth be told, maintaining a high-level job demands much of a person. Along similar lines, so does caring for and cultivating a personal life. And then there are all those “chores” that must be accomplished so your life runs smoothly. From top to bottom, this is an immense load. So much so that from time to time, the details of your personal life might be lost to the wind. Obviously, you never want this to happen as it can harm relationships that are important to you. Thankfully, Cozi is here to help.
“Cozi has allowed me to organize my household better than I ever thought possible because of how straightforward the creators have made it," said Natália Sadowski, Director of Aesthetics at Nourishing Biologicals. "From my grocery list to cleaning tasks, it’s all there and I can make it mine.”
For the working parent who is going non-stop, this wellness app can be a lifesaver. The paid version allows for a cloud-service where multiple users can have access to the same calendar. Seeing as most children attending school have a phone of their own and if we’re being realistic here, know how to operate it better than their parents, having them integrate this into their life will be simple to say the least. From there, it is all about sticking to that calendar as a family.
“Getting off work in a near-panic, wondering what do I have to do next is a thing of the past," said Melissa Rhodes, CEO of Psychics 1on1. "Now, I’ve got my family’s week planned out with notification reminders for the people who need to be somewhere at a specific time.”
4. Way of Life
For whatever reason, life seems to have this snowball effect. When good things happen initially, better things seem to follow. The inverse of this is also true though obviously you want nothing to do with this. That being said, everyone and their mother has bad habits which lead to this unwelcome result. Left unchecked, these will spiral into something much, much worse. To counter this possible reality, you may want to consider downloading the wellness app titled Way of Life.
“Cutting your hours of sleep per night will always lead to stress because your body doesn’t have the energy for tolerance," said Marilyn Zubak, Marketing Lead at Snif. "Way of Life did a fantastic job helping me create and keep a good sleep routine which has benefitted more than my stress levels.”
Way of Life has much more to offer. Since we are talking about balance, we should discuss another aspect of life - eating. Without the proper nutritional sustenance, work and other aspects of life will suffer greatly. Your energy levels will be insufficient. Your mental focus will be as good as a kid in a construction zone. To be frank, to have to eat and Way of Life has solutions to this as well.
“Way of Life not only helped me eat more regularly, it also helped me change my diet," said Bradley Hall, CEO of SONU Sleep. "In the long run, this has paid dividends for my personal and professional life.
5. Tribesports
We would be doing you a great disservice if we left you without covering a vital element of the work life balance - physical activity. Maybe you work a trade job and you’re on your feet eight plus hours a day. If this is you, move along. But, if you are like many of us, the hours spent behind a desk can be quite the drain. Without an intentional plan of action to combat this, the proverbial song will remain the same.
“After a few years in an office job it became apparent that my body had moved away from what it was once capable of in terms of strength or stamina," said Michael Fischer, Founder of Elite HRT. "But the Tribesports helped me get back on track.”
While having a workout routine given to you by a team of experts is no doubt a wonderful tool at your disposal, it is not the highlight of this wellness app. The true star is its ability for users to communicate with each other about anything and everything related to staying fit.
“Doing anything by yourself loses its luster after a while. Especially if it’s something not so glamorous like working out," said Dr. Minhas, Founder and CEO of GerdLi. "Tribesports brings people together who are interested in achieving fitness goals with a community.”
All in all, using a wellness app to find work life balance for yourself may be one of the most fruitful efforts you choose for yourself. To inspire you as you set off on this journey, remember the words of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “Don’t confuse having a career with having a life.”
