6 Tools That Will Help You Alleviate The Holiday Rush

Wondering where the time — more like, the entire year — went? Feeling panicky about your holiday to-do list? Hopefully, you’ve already embraced project-management platforms like Hive to make your workload more manageable.

But beyond streamlining your workload, there are other types of tools that can help alleviate holiday stress. From mindfulness apps to tech gear and services that get pesky errands off your plate, here are six of them, according to busy leaders who are all too familiar with the intensity of the holiday season.

1. Calm

Jean Gregoire, founder and CEO of Lovebox, a love note messenger, prioritizes his mental health during this time of the year thanks to the Calm app.

“The end of the year is a busy time both personally and professionally. There are a lot of commitments tied into the holidays, as well as sales and product pushes for my company,” he shares.

“The Calm app is excellent for both sleep and meditation throughout the day. I believe it’s important to take time every now and then to recharge and refuel. It can be as simple as taking a 5 to 10-minute break to clear your head. By setting aside time to destress, I’m able to return to work more productive.”

2. Forest

The Pomodoro technique is a famous time-management system where you work for 20-minute increments without distractions followed by five-minute breaks. After four Pomodoros, you take a longer break.

Many professionals embrace this method to get more done in less time, but Dan Ni, CEO of email marketing platform Messaged, leverages an app called Forest to make the most of the Pomodoro technique during the holiday season. The premise of Forest is simple: Whenever you want to stay focused, you plant a virtual tree. The tree grows while you focus on your work and dies if you leave the app halfway through. “It helps me focus on my work better, plus it is a fun touch when you grow a virtual tree,” says Ni.

3. Noise-canceling headphones

Ni also recommends investing in a pair of noise-canceling headphones: “They help you concentrate when there is constant hustle and bustle and noise around you that can distract you. You will thank me later as they do come in handy!”

The next time you can’t help but overhear your coworkers chit-chat while you’re trying to get work done, just put your headphones on, play a focus music playlist from YouTube and tune everything but your important deliverables out.

4. Clockify

When you’re juggling so many end-of-year projects along with personal priorities, you need to be extra mindful about how much time you’re investing in each task. Enter Clockify, a free time tracker and timesheet that helps you track work hours across projects.

“Clockify helps me improve my productivity by allowing me to set a timer on each project and lets me know when it’s time to move on to the next thing,” says Ouriel Lemmel, CEO and founder of WinIt, a company that helps drivers manage and dispute parking tickets.

“It helps me see concretely where I spend the most hours, and it helps me improve my time-management skills. I find it especially helpful over the holidays because it allows me to focus on work for a set amount of time, and only that time,” he adds.

“By honoring the timer and what I set aside for work, I’m left with more time to spend enjoying the holidays with my family and friends.”

5. SudShare

When it comes to holiday stress, don’t underestimate the toll that everyday chores can take on you. Why not outsource them? It’s more affordable than ever thanks to services like SudShare, which removes doing your laundry from your to-do list.

“One of the best apps to save me time is outsourcing my laundry using the SudShare app. Tap the app, leave my laundry in a bag outside my door for the local Sudster to pick it up and within 24 hours, my laundry is dropped off, sorted, washed, dried and folded,” shares Larissa Banting, the owner of both a PR firm and a wedding-planning company.

“For only $1 a pound, it’s a bargain while getting those hours per week I’d be wasting on laundry to focus on other things is priceless.”

6. Sunrise clock

John Li, co-founder and CTO of Fig Loans, a lending company, used to struggle with energy slumps in the winter, which adds to holiday stress. Until he got a sunrise clock after a suggestion by a friend. “It has made the biggest difference in how I feel and work in the mornings year-round,” he shares.

“The slowly-brightening light wakes you up naturally as it suppresses your melatonin levels, so you wake up feeling far less tired immediately. I find that the light usually wakes me 10 minutes before the alarm goes off, so I have about 10 minutes to rest and enjoy before the alarm birds start chirping.”

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