Technology is deeply woven into how people live. Upon waking in the morning, your smart alarm gently wakes you with a calming sunrise simulation. You head down to the kitchen, where your pre-set coffee pot chimes to let you know that your morning brew is waiting for you. Your Bluetooth toothbrush even rates how well you’re cleaning your teeth, providing you with suggestions for better oral hygiene. Every aspect of your day can arguably be enhanced thanks to new technology.
But what about those items on your to-do list that you just can’t seem to get around to? Well, there’s a tech solution for those, too. Here are three tech options for the most boring—but important—lifestyle maintenance tasks.
1. Managing Appointments
Life is busy. Work emails and looming deadlines can distract you from getting items checked off your personal to-do list. The next thing you know, the electricity bill went unpaid last month, and you’re currently standing in your living room wondering why the power doesn’t work. Setting up automatic alerts and reminders can help prevent these types of unfortunate scenarios from happening in the first place.
Routine tasks, like changing the air filters in your home or replacing the water filter in your refrigerator, can be added to your phone’s reminder app. Set these reminders on automatic alert so you never need to think about when Fido needs to go back to the vet for his yearly physical or when your child needs to get their teeth cleaned at the dentist.
For more service-oriented appointments, look for businesses that send reminders on your behalf. Many businesses have started implementing technology to send text or email reminders to their clients. Some car dealerships, for instance, have started implementing automotive AI to send automated service reminders to customers who purchased their vehicles from their dealership. These messages can be instant reminders to get your car’s oil changed or to bring the car in for the yearly safety and emissions inspection.
2. Household Management
Did you remember to close the garage door before you left for vacation? Thinking about this one question can keep you up at night, leaving you tossing and turning. Thanks to smart home platforms and devices, you’ll never need to worry about these nagging questions again. Devices such as Alexa and Google Home have transformed how individuals live. These centralized hubs give homeowners the ability to manage and control all of their connected devices from a single interface.
Moreover, these devices can help with other mundane chores, such as turning off all the lights at the end of the evening or powering up your coffee pot upon waking in the morning. When you leave for work during the day, the device can adjust your central thermostat so you aren’t wasting unnecessary energy on heating or cooling while nobody is home.
3. Grocery Shopping
While there’s nothing you can do about the increasing prices of groceries, there may be something you can do to limit your cost of going shopping. The cost of driving to and from a grocery store adds up. Not only does it drain your gas tank, but the hours it takes to browse through the aisles and decide what you need to buy or want to eat for the week drain your time. Your time is valuable, and offloading what you can to a grocery delivery app could be worth it.
Online grocery shopping saw its peak during the pandemic, but many customers continue to enjoy the ease and convenience of shopping from an app as opposed to making the trip themselves. Stores such as Whole Foods and Walmart Grocery will deliver items to your doorstep in as little as two hours. Instacart partners with various stores from around the country for ease of shopping, and FreshDirect specializes in directly sourcing from farms and producers.
If you do find yourself at the grocery store, you can check what’s inside your fridge by opening up your smartphone fridge app. That way, you’ll know if you really need to buy more ketchup or if you have plenty for your next cookout.
Final Thoughts
If there’s a will, there’s a way, and technology is paving the way in terms of making individuals’ lives simpler and more efficient. The key to implementing these tech-friendly habits into your life is to analyze what is weighing you down. Think about those necessary tasks that you’d rather outsource and find tools and software to help lessen your burden.
