Favorite Apps, Technology and Books for the over 50 Crowd!

The Podcasts App (free) is by far my favorite App this year.  I’ve become a little bit of a groupie and have my favorite podcasts I listen to literally every morning via my blu-tooth speaker while I shower and get ready for the day.  Some of my favorite podcasts include: The Tony Robbins Podcast, The Tim Ferris Show, The Productivityist Podcast, How I Built This, Manager Tools, Scale Your Business, This is Your Life with Michael Hyatt, Joel Osteen, Smart Passive Income and The Biz Chix Podcasts.

The Audible App allows me to download any book I have been wanting to read – and allows me to listen to it.  I love having this in my car and listening to books while I travel, while I walk, or doing any other activity.  You do not have to pay for the app, however you do have to pay for the book(s) that you download.

The Bitmoji App is hilarious. This is a fun app that allows you to create an avatar of yourself, select your hair color, body type and outfit.  You can be thin, fat, blonde, brunette, whatever you fancy.  It is a fun way to communicate via your text messaging, birthday wishes, congratulations, witty comments, etc.… are all available.

The Fijitsu ScanSnap is by far my favorite new technology tool.  One of my 2016 major goals was to finally get our paperwork organized and filed.  Unfortunately I’m still not completely there, but have made huge strides with the ScanSnap.  Each day when I open my mail, I review and immediately scan what I need to maintain and then shred the paper.  ScanSnap makes it very easy to scan single and/or multiple pages, immediately alerts you it has been received on your computer and you can save wherever you want.  It’s far better than dragging stuff into the office and scanning it.

Dropbox, a cloud service you may subscribe to is where I am organizing and storing the documents I need to maintain.  Since I am also storing photographs in Dropbox I pay an annual fee due to the size of my files, there is a free version available.  Dropbox is available on my smart phone, iPad, and computer allowing me to easily access medical records, my dog’s license and last rabies shot, and any other important document I have saved from wherever I am.

Unroll.me is a service that allows you to easily unsubscribe from the many emails you get (please don’t unroll meJ)!  This has eliminated a ton of irrelevant mail from my Inbox allowing me to see the emails I should be reading.  Microsoft Outlook has introduced Clutter.  While it doesn’t eliminate or have you unsubscribe, it does get all of those 20% off today emails out of your Inbox.

The iWatch is teaching me new ways to monitor my activity, my schedule, and health.  I’m sure it does much more than I am using it for but I love that it is forcing me outside of my technology comfort zone and enabling me to learn new skills.

Essentialism, a book by Greg McKeown has changed by life.  The impact of understanding when you say “Yes” to something means you are saying “No” to something else has given me clarity when deciding how to use my time.  The time maintaining organization and structure gives back to you is amazing.  Many New Year Goals were gleaned from this book.

Apps, Tools and Books for the New Year:

• The Yunmai Scale and app.  Each day I weigh myself it syncs with my phone and allows me to see my weight and my Body Mass Index measurement.
• iHealth Blood Pressure Cuff.  This cuff is easy to use independently and syncs automatically with your iHealth App.  It maintains a graph of your blood pressure and documents the date and time allowing you to see trends.  Good or bad.
• The Daily Stoic, a daily meditation book by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman was given to my husband and me on New Year’s Day.  My first New Year’s Gift ever.  It is inspirational and provides daily challenges.  I can’t wait to read each day’s writing and enjoy taking the time to focus and meditate.

Happy New Year!  I hope your 2017 has gotten off to a great start.  I would love to hear about your favorites at Linda@specialneedslawyers.com.  Thank you for reading. I’m so excited for 2017!