3 Apps That Keep This Hot Mess Less Stressed
It seems that “having your **** together’ has become a new trend. Seriously, do a quick Goog and you’ll stumble across countless tips and tricks that tell us what we already know yet are openly resisting. Why? Well because we are busy humans with demanding circumstances that come in a wide variety of colors and flavors. Your strawberry may be parenting, your banana may be school… whatever it is, it’s difficult to keep our life experience savory when we are mixing so much in the bowl.
Most of us are grasping at our metaphorical **** just hoping it winds up not escaping or taking us down, let alone having the confidence to confirm that it is, in fact, together. Together-ish, if you will.
I have a sneaking suspicion that HYST is possible, for all of us. It just comes down to our mindset, approach, and how much time we want to put in.
As a sensitive individual, I need structure and specific methods to prevent me from feeling too overwhelmed. Once I have methods that are successful, I thrive with productivity. I truly can’t be stopped, but I have to have the right tools.
In this journey of piling the **** together, I have discovered applications that have served me well and inspired me to keep up with progressing, lowering my stress, and feeling like I have my life in order. I’m sharing the three that I have found to be the most rewarding.
Stylebook ($3.99)
The year was 1995.
I was watching Clueless when I was also probably still interested in Blue’s Clues (let’s be real, I was five). Despite the level of unfamiliarity, I would audibly gasp every time the infamous closet scene came on. You know the one, a bouncy Cher Horowitz hops on her computer and uses a digital wardrobe to pick out her outfit for the day. Every young woman in the world would vote for that sort of technology over a jet pack, no question. Back then, that was pure magic. Twenty-something odd years later, I’d argue that it still is, that was until I found this app.
HOW IT WORKS
Once you download the app, you are instructed to start adding in your closet. Piece by excruciating piece. I want to emphasize that this is where you need to put in time to see the results. The app allows you to photograph your pieces and takes out the background… mostly. This works best when you have a pure solid background to lay your clothes on and if you don’t, just trust that you will spend hours cropping and editing. This took me a very long time, I used a ladder, a blanket and rolled handfuls of clothing out on a rack at a time. The dogs thought I was crazy, I too thought I was crazy.
Once you’ve uploaded, make sure to break them down into correct categories as you go. You can add in prices (Stylebook enables you to see how much wear you are getting for your buck), colors, sizes and the like.
From there you can create looks (if you want) or just start adding them to your calendar individually.
WHY IT WORKS
The closet feature is a life saver for me. I have an embarrassing amount of clothes that I don’t wear and I have tried everything I could think of to change that, from color coding my closet to arranging by sleeve lengths. Despite the organization, I wouldn’t spend the time rummaging around and placing things together in my closet because it was exhausting and created this huge apocalyptic mess. With Stylebook, I am able to play around while I have spare time, sitting in bed or on my lunch. All the fun and productivity without throwing piles of rejects on the floor.
The calendar feature is my favorite. You can either pop in looks you’ve created or place items in separately for each day of the week. This saves so much time if you sit and plan out a week beforehand. No more reaching for the same five outfits just because it’s morning and you’re lacking inspiration. Do this when you’re energized and feeling creative- doing so means you are getting the most out of your closet, eliminating stress, and making yourself look better which makes you… that’s right, feel better.
Following closely behind, I’d have to say the Style Stats feature is fantastic. Here you have everything from outfit counts to “never used in an outfit” to “worn history” to a breakdown of what colors are prominent in your closet.
BOTTOM LINE
Okay, so perhaps Stylebook isn’t going to tell you when you’ve mismatched your outfit or show what you will look like wearing it. Considering all it can do, that doesn’t matter too much and you’ll find yourself with a clever secret weapon and the satisfaction of fulfilling your adolescent dreams of having that Clueless closet. The future has arrived, ladies and fellas. The future has arrived.
2. Toodledo (Free)
This one, I regrettably didn’t find on my own. My fiance has had this app for what seems like forever, and despite his efforts to show me how successful it is, I wasn’t feeling it. Until now.
HOW IT WORKS
Toodledo is incredibly user friendly, It’s essentially a task-manager that allows you to add tasks and prioritize them in levels of high to low. You can set due dates, put specific tasks on repeat, and add them into separate folders.
WHY IT WORKS
I have always been a planner, more specifically, I have always been a paper planner-planner. You feel me? As in, I need to hold this concrete book and write in it with a real pen. While I still do that, I have found many benefits of having a digital version.
For starters, I don’t always have my planner with me and if I do, sometimes I can’t just whip it out as easily as my phone. When I remember something in the moment that I don’t want to forget, it’s convenient to be able to add it in that second as opposed to writing it down when I get a chance. Let’s also be honest, most of our ideas and thoughts can come spontaneously and having something readily available has changed my world. Added bonus: you can also access Toodledo from your desktop and sync it from your computer.
Secondly… You. Can. Check. It. Off. Once you’ve completed a task, just tap the box alongside it and a tiny check appears. There’s something satisfying about actually checking something off your list, and there’s something psychologically significant about doing so. Curious? Look here.
It’s clean.
I need to have things very neat, tidy and straightforward. With Toodledo, I see very clearly what needs to be done by order of date and importance… that’s not something that I have had success with using a paper planner. With balancing wedding planning, school, and general life activities, I don’t have to have some crazy color coded system that takes incredible effort yet yields mediocre results. I just type it in and it does the hard work for me.
BOTTOM LINE
Toodledo has changed my opinion of virtual to-do lists because it’s simple yet significant. I’ve always been one to keep on top of my planning game, but this took it to an entirely new level. The app does make you feel like HYST because it makes it hard not to.
3. Wholesome ($2.99)
As I had mentioned in my previous post, ya girl is going hard on the health game. For the past two weeks, I have been allocating time to research what I am putting into my body and trying to make sure I get what I need. Enter Wholesome.
HOW IT WORKS
Wholesome Pro is a food and nutrition tracker all in one. It’s a friendly “accountability partner” that breaks down the percentages of what you’re eating from carbs to calories to protein, down to vitamins and minerals and everything in between. All you do is add what you scarf down into the food diary and check the stats. If you don’t see your product, just enter it in yourself (thereby also making it available for other users).
WHY IT WORKS
Well, why wouldn’t it work?! Wholesome not only shows me what I’m getting (together or in separate foods), it suggests to me foods that add what I am lacking! (I have also set my settings to “Vegetarian” so there are no meat suggestions, though unfortunately there isn’t a “Vegan” setting as of yet.) Anyone, no matter what diet you follow can benefit from this app.
For each food that you add in, Wholesome tells you what the fruit, vegetable, or protein is “excellent for” or “good for”. These aren’t merely simple elements either, for “blueberries” it shows vitamins such as cyanidin, quercetin and numerous other less mainstream nutrients. THIS IS WILD. WILD, I TELL YOU.
BOTTOM LINE
As someone who is really motivated by facts and figures, I can appreciate seeing what my body is receiving as well as what it needs more of. No one genuinely has time to research each article of food they eat each day, and this app makes it completely effortless.
I would also like to point out that it brings credibility to the vegan diet. My breakfast (a homemade vegan smoothie concoction) brings me 50% of my daily protein, and by the end of the day I am typically well over what I need. (Add to that B-12 as well, not including my supplements). SO YES, for the millionth time- YES, WE GET OUR PROTEIN. We good here, folks. WE. GOOD.