Using Your iPhone to Streamline Your life

One of the best things about modern smartphones is that there are so many ways that they can make your life easier.  Your smartphone means that you never need to carry a camera, mp3 player, or notepad. You’ve already got them in your pocket. You can use them for banking, tracking, and making appointments, and there’s an app for near enough anything. 

 

Yet, despite our iPhones having the ability to make our lives easier, many of us use them primarily to pass the time. They are filled with pointless apps; we spend more time on them wasting time than we do being productive. Without care, far from making your life easier, streamlining your days, and helping you stay organized and in control, your iPhone can instead add clutter, distraction, and mess to your life. It could even negatively impact productivity and add extra time to your processes. 

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Why Use Your iPhone to Streamline Your Life?

Most of us lead busy lifestyles. We’re always on the go, heading to work, meetings, school runs, playdates, date dates, parties, dealing with our friends’ dramas and family crisis, and completing all of those days today errands that fill up our time. It’s hard work. 

In your pocket, you’ve got a tool that can make life easier, reducing your stress levels, and saving you time. Why wouldn’t you want to make the most of that?

 

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Organize Your Phone

iPhones today have loads of storage. You could download every app that caught your eye, keep every photo, email, and text message, and even if you did ever manage to run out of storage, you could utilize the cloud for a nominal fee. 

This means that we keep everything. If your home screen is a mess, your phone is filled with photos and apps, and you can never find what you are looking for, it’s time to get organized. 

Organize Your Home screen

If you are running an older iOS, your home screen organization might be limited to sorting apps into folders (still a good idea), but if you’ve recently upgraded to iOS14, you can use an app library, widgets, and smart stacks to clear your home screen of all but the most important (to you) apps and tools. This makes it harder to get distracted and easier to find what you need when you need it. 

Sort Your Photos Out

If you’ve got about a million photos on your camera roll, you aren’t alone. Spend some time sorting these out, send some to the cloud, delete things you don’t want, hide things you don’t want other people to see, and create folders to stay on top of things. You can learn more about hiding images if you need to. 

Turn Off Notifications

If you are constantly getting distracted by social media posts, text messages, emails, and app updates, it’s time to turn notifications off or to set do not disturb times. This can help you to work more productively and stay focused. 

Reach Inbox Zero

If your email or text message inbox is overflowing, it’s time for a clear out. This makes it easier to see new messages and to group important documents together. 

Delete Unused Apps

If you’ve got any apps that you don’t use, delete them. 

Have a Social Media Clear Out

If you’ve got tons of friends that you don’t know, or worse, don’t like, delete them. Declutter your social media profiles using your iPhone for a more streamlined feed. 

Get the Right Apps

There are plenty of apps available for the iPhone, which can help to streamline your life. Here’s a look at some of the best. 

Trello

There is plenty of productivity and list-making apps out there. But, if you are looking for something that’s easy to use but offers plenty of helpful features, Trello is a great place to start. 

Pocket

Pocket gives you a place to save all of those news articles and blog posts that you want to read, but don’t have time for. 

Evernote

Evernote is perfect if you use your phone for work. Make notes on the go, sync them between devices easily, and even add files, tables, photos, and graphs. 

IFTTT

If This Then That is a fantastic tool. You can use it to create your own applets that respond to specific controls. For example, you could send a photo to Instagram every time you post on Pinterest. At home, you could turn your smart thermostat off when you leave the house or change your lighting at dinner time. You can even use it as a savings tool, saving a little money every time you post to social media, like a modern-day swear box. 

Depending on what you use your phone for, banking apps, quick payment apps, invoicing and tax apps, scheduling tools, and Echosign could also be helpful. 

Delete Some Apps

If you find that you are wasting hours a day on social media, ask yourself if you really need the apps on your phone? If social media is killing your productivity, delete some of the apps, and just check in once a day on your desktop or laptop. Many people find that spending less time on social media is freeing and a great way to streamline. 

Set Social Media Limits

Another option is using your iPhones screen time settings to set specific app limits. Give yourself set times to be on social media and gaming apps, avoiding them before bed or when you are busy during the day. 

Sync Your Devices

Why waste time sending files and photos to yourself? Sync up all of your devices to make things run more smoothly. 

If you get your iPhone set up right and build your own good habits, it can be a life-changing tool. It can save you time, give more opportunities to enjoy life, and boost your work performance. It can help you build positive relationships, reduce your stress levels, and practice self-care. Yes, your iPhone gives you a great way to pass the time when you are bored. But it’s so much more than that.  

Self-care Tips for Surviving the End of a Relationship

The end of a romantic relationship, especially a long-term one, is rarely easy to deal with. Even if you made the decision to end things, you're still letting go of an important part of your life and a person who was important to you. It can be a huge transition in your life and leave you feeling like you're not sure what comes next. Taking care of yourself after the end of a relationship is a must, so don't rush to get back on the horse or hide your emotions. You can look after yourself and let yourself heal in a number of ways.

 

Give Yourself Time to Grieve

 

Grief isn't just something that you experience when someone dies. Any time you lose someone or something, you can feel grief. The loss of a relationship and someone you love or loved is definitely something that can cause grief. Everything will look different from now on, and you need time to adjust to being single again. You might feel like you're expected to put on a brave face and to just get on with things. While it can be a good idea to keep busy, you should still give yourself time to feel all of the emotions.

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Do Things for Yourself

 

One of the positives of getting out of a relationship is that you can afford to be a little selfish for a while. If there's a time to treat yourself and put your needs first, it's now. You might miss being in a relationship in lots of ways, but there's a lot to enjoy about putting yourself first too. Whether you spend more time with your friends or focus on improving yourself for a while, a little self-care can do you a lot of good. Use your time to take care of yourself and think about what comes next.

 

Get the Support That You Need

 

Good support during and after a breakup is essential. Having good friends and family there for you can make it feel easier to get through it. It might even be necessary to have good legal support through experienced divorce lawyers so that you're not going through anything alone. The right support can help you to get through this period in your life and adjust to your new normal. It's important to have different types of support, from practical to emotional support.

 

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Allow Yourself to Be Single

 

Being single can be difficult after you have been together with someone for a long time. You might feel like you've forgotten how to be on your own, especially if you were living with your partner. But jumping straight into another relationship, before you're ready to move on, is most likely not the best idea. Allowing yourself to be single for a while can give you more time to heal and ensure you're in the best position to be in a relationship with someone new.

 

The end of your relationship can take some time to process. Give yourself the space to recover and deal with your feelings. 

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5 Practical Tips for Getting Things Back on Track after Falling into a Rut

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When everything in life is working out as planned, it’s hard to accurately describe how good it feels – and just how much potential each new day can seem to hold.

 

On the flipside, however, when you fall into a rut and things seem to be going in exactly the opposite direction to the one you would prefer, it can be extremely difficult to remain motivated, to keep your spirits up, or to take proactive steps to get back onto the right path.

 

Life can and should be an immensely positive, uplifting, and exciting adventure. But it is inevitable that, from time to time, we will all find ourselves in situations where things just seem stagnant and hopeless. In these sorts of situations, it is fundamentally important to latch onto some directly actionable steps that can help us to begin digging our way out, and getting back on the course that leads to the places we want to be.

 

While every particular situation will need tailor-made and specific solutions, there are nonetheless a bunch of practical tips that tend to have a good effect in a broad range of different situations, with regards to helping to get things back on track.

 

Here are a few practical tips for climbing out of that rut.

 

Get your nutrition on point

 

The way you eat has a tremendous impact on everything ranging from your mood, to your energy levels, to how well you are able to sleep, and how resilient you are to the various stresses that arise over the course of everyday life.

 

Even if all of that is the case, however, it’s very easy to end up overlooking the importance of good nutrition if you aren’t really paying attention, or you’re preoccupied by other things.

 

Whether because of a lack of time, a lack of motivation, or a lack of inspiration, it’s very common for people to end up in situations where they are either chronically overeating, or undereating, or – perhaps most commonly of all – are eating foods that are low in essential nutrients.

 

Although it might sound remarkable, nutrient deficiencies of varying degrees are actually very common in the developed world, even with supermarkets and restaurants on virtually every corner.

 

Among other things, there is evidence that a deficiency in vitamin D can lead to lethargy, depression, and an array of other health issues, while a deficiency in magnesium can lead to heightened anxiety, insomnia, and more.

 

If you know that your nutrition isn’t exactly on point, perhaps the first step in getting your life back on track should be to work to optimise your nutrition. Eat healthy, whole, home-cooked meals. Supplement with vitamins and minerals as necessary.

 

Often, this step alone can leave you feeling completely bowled over by just how much more energy and motivation you end up with, as a result.

 

Set a regular wake up time

 

If you have been made redundant from your job, or work remotely on a flexible schedule, there’s a good chance that you’ve slipped into having totally irregular wake up times and that these are not doing you any favours with regards to feeling your best, or getting your life in order.

 

What’s more, irregular wake up times are undoubtedly now more common than they have been in some time, due to the general disruption and routine-shake-up that has occurred as a side-effect of the global COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns and upheavals.

 

If you are constantly waking up at irregular times, however – or if your usual wake up time is midday – then you will be undermining yourself in a variety of different ways in most cases.

 

First and foremost, your circadian rhythm will suffer, your energy levels will be inconsistent, you will experience a high likelihood of things like insomnia, and the quality of your sleep will typically deteriorate – which, in and of itself, leads to many other associated health conditions.

 

Beyond this, however, there is also the very clear and real issue that having a completely disrupted wake up time will mean that you are constantly at odds with broader society, and with the people around you.

 

One consequence of this can be that you end up becoming more socially reclusive. Another consequence might be that you aren’t available at the right times to discuss future job prospects, or to attend classes, training seminars, or other relevant gatherings.

 

Do what you can to regulate your wake up times and to bring them in line with society at large.

 

Take steps to address any health issues you might have been ignoring for some time

 

If you have fallen into a state of apathy and despair, there’s a good chance that you will also have been failing to properly address any underlying health issues that might be weighing on you, and negatively impacting your quality of life in a variety of ways.

 

This could be the case for psychiatric conditions, or for chronic medical disorders, but it can also be the case for things that are not necessarily “diseases” or “conditions” in a conventional sense, but that can nonetheless significantly undermine your quality of life.

 

It might be, for example, that your eyesight is very bad but that you’ve been constantly putting off a follow-up opticians appointment, and are using glasses that are no longer fit for purpose. Make no mistake that this can totally undermine your mood and sense of well-being, and can complicate your life dramatically.

 

To get your life back on track, take whatever steps you can, as soon as you can, to begin addressing any health issues that you might have been ignoring for some time. This might start with reading a good glasses buying guide, or making an appointment with your GP to discuss something that’s been troubling you.

 

Consider buying tools and devices that allow you to get things done with less distraction and stress

 

It can be remarkably difficult to actually get things done in everyday life, if you feel as though your attention is constantly being dragged in one direction or another, and as though you don’t have the space and clarity of mind to just focus on one thing at a time.

 

In his book "The Paradox of Choice", the psychologist Barry Schwartz outlined some remarkable evidence that an overabundance of choice in our everyday lives is likely to be a serious detriment to our well-being and ability to achieve our goals – rather than being the unmitigated good that we often think it is.

 

Largely, this seems to happen as a result of a psychological “freezing up” mechanism that could be referred to as analysis paralysis.

 

Consider buying tools and devices that allow you to get things done with less distraction and stress, on an everyday basis, and that don’t draw you into time wasting activity spirals to a dramatic degree.

 

Perhaps something as straightforward as getting a voice -controlled AI home assistant device will allow you to keep up-to-date with your appointments, and to do things like check the weather, without feeling compelled to surf the web for an hour.

 

De-clutter and organize your home

 

It is often very tricky, to say the least, to come up with a comprehensive plan for how you should achieve a particularly ambitious goal of yours, or even how you should set about “overhauling your life” within the next six months.

 

In many cases, the most effective and worthwhile approach will just be to take some initial action within your immediate sphere of influence, to begin generating positive momentum.

 

One thing that everyone can do is to de-clutter and organise their own home – an exercise which is often necessary after you’ve fallen into a rut. 

 

Once you got your home tidied up, it’s very likely that you will find yourself feeling far more motivated, focused, and driven to take the next step forward. It’s also more likely that you will be able to actually see what the next step is.

 

  

4 Irritating Skin Issues And The Solutions You Need

Do you ever feel embarrassed about your skin? I know I have certainly gone through that feeling multiple times throughout my life. It's okay though because most people have at least one skin issue that drives them crazy. Here are some of the problems that you could be facing and the right ways to handle them.

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Loose Skin 

Loose skin is a common problem for anyone that has gone through any severe type of weight loss. This could be after a medical procedure and it’s something that cosmetic surgeons often won’t mention or draw attention too. If for instance, you have liposuction the fat does disappear but the skin remains. This requires additional surgery to remove. Many people can’t afford both and will typically settle for one leaving the excess skin. This can be noticeable or it might be a small issue where your skin has lower than normal elasticity. It’s possible for herbal creams to reduce excess skin however typically surgery will be the best answer. Mesotherapy treatment is one of the most popular choices for this issue. 

Stretch Marks 

Many people incorrectly assume that stretch marks are related to being overweight. This is a complete fallacy and stretch marks can be caused by any sudden major change to your body. So, you could lose weight, gain weight, go through a growth spurt, put on muscle, or tone your body. All of these changes could cause stretch marks, particularly if the change occurs rapidly. This is why you should be careful about losing weight too quickly. Stretch marks can be white and barely noticeable but some people have large red, stretch marks that are aesthetically more akin to welts. This can be highly embarrassing, particularly during bathing suit season. There are easy ways to get rid of stretch marks. Daniel Craig has commented in an interview that he uses lemon juice on his own stretch marks and it works a charm. That’s right ladies, men get them too. 

Acne 

Acne is often seen as a problem that you will have to deal with during puberty but that will get better as you age. However, some people do suffer from adult acne that stays with them throughout their life and it can be quite severe. Some people have spots that regularly get infected which can cause entire parts of the body to be red, bloody, and scarred. If you suffer from severe acne, it’s worth speaking to a dermatologist. There are treatments available. Alternatively, if you only have moderate levels of acne, then changing your diet can do the trick. 

Cellulite 

Finally, you could have cellulite on your legs or your buttocks. While there is no quick fix to deal with this, you might want to consider drinking more water. You can also try massage treatments. Some professionals suggest that massaging the area can greatly reduce cellulite and ensure that it is not as noticeable. Cellulite is quite a common condition and a lot of celebrities have this issue. It’s of course edited out in music videos and films. 

We hope this helps you understand some of the skin issues that might be bothering you and the best ways to tackle them.

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