Thursday, January 17, 2013

Resolution 2013: Get Organized with Apps

My iPhone is slowly becoming a bigger part of my life. It is always with me, so the more I have on it that manages my life, the better! If you are hoping 2013 is the year you become more organized, have you thought about how your phone can help? I recently found two great apps for organizing my family!




While at a MOPS meeting recently, another Mom mentioned the free Cozi app and with her simple explanation I was sold. Your family (spouse, grandparents, older kids) all have the apps on their phones and share the same information. The Cozi app includes a family calendar, to do list, shopping list and more! Each person in your family is given a color to keep it all organized within the app. 

So many times I have had to remind my husband of family activities- don't forget we are going here tonight... remember, I won't be home tomorrow because of this, etc. With Cozi, I entered activities so that he can see our schedules when making work commitments or wondering what we are doing this weekend.

With the shopping list feature, I can continuously jot down things we need as I think of them and if he happens to stop at Target to get me flowers, he can grab more gallon size baggies and vitamins :) It works both ways because I am always at Target and it would be great to see he is out of contact solution and AA batteries! 


My daughter is 4 and she comes home with art every day! I display it for a few weeks on the large shutter in our kitchen and then when it gets full I often throw it away. She has been known to pull art out of the trash because it is "special". I love her art work and keep everything with special meaning or hand and foot prints, but I can't keep it all. Enter Artkive!

With this app, you take a picture of your child's artwork on your phone and following their directions tag it with their name, age and the date of the artwork. When you are ready, you can use the app's software to turn their art into a book, coffee mug for Grandpa or mousepad for Dad. How smart is that!

The app costs $2.99 is an only on iOS (iPhone/iPad) for now. Their website says an Android version is coming this year.

I know iPhones today can be such a distraction, but they can also enhance family life! I recommend both of these apps from my own use to help you get more organized in 2013! For more resolutions, click on the Resolutions 2013 button on the left.