Surprise! No, it’s not your birthday, but it is your lucky day because we’ve got the lowdown on a handful of the latest time-saving apps to turn your hectic life into a well-oiled machine.

Time is precious, and nowadays it seems like we have less and less of it to spare. Fortunately, though, we’ve rounded up several time-saving apps that will help you live life more efficiently, therefore allowing you to hang on to one of your most precious resources. While it’s easy for us to feel overloaded by the use of technology–and it may seem counterintuitive for us to suggest using your smartphone more often–but rest assured that these programs are designed to help, not hinder, your life.

Whether you’re a busy mom, single professional, small business owner, or something else entirely, we’re confident that you’ll be able to glean something from one of these apps. So without keeping you any longer, because this is all about saving time (duh), let’s get this show on the road.

1. Waze

I can’t think of anyone who’s ever been driving down an open road just wishing they were sitting in rush hour traffic. And while the GPS and other map applications have been around for some time now, Waze is a great alternative option that’s special because it offers its users real time directions that will take you down the nearest side streets and back roads diverting you away from the bumper to bumper traffic and into the fast lane.

2. Shyp

Ever been to the post office and felt like your head would explode from impatience? Okay, maybe that’s a little melodramatic, but waiting in line is no joke, especially during the holidays. Enter Shyp, the handy app that lets you snap a pic of your parcel, get an estimate, and then just like that someone magically shows up to your door to pick up your stuff. As if it couldn’t get any better, this app also lets you compare prices among carriers like FedEx, UPS, and USPS, which includes the cost of packaging.

3. Doctor on Demand

For when you can’t WebMD your symptoms, but you’re not exactly at death’s door, Doctor on Demand is a revolutionary new app that changes the way we receive medical care. Rather than sit, and sit, and sit some more in an uncomfortable waiting room for hours, you’ll be connected with a board-certified physician, psychologist, or more via video chat from your smartphone. According to the iTunes app store, visits are only $40 and the doctors can diagnose and treat most conditions in the comfort of your own home.

4. My Dressing

Capsule wardrobe wearers, minimalists, and even clothes hoarders rejoice! This fashion forward app lets you create and keep track of outfit combinations using the items straight from your own closet. Snap photos of individual pieces and easily isolate them within the program before pairing up with accessories, shoes, handbags, and other items that you own. This is a great little time saver because you can pre-plan outfits and never have to guess at what to wear again.

5. Zirtual

For those times when you could use a personal assistant occasionally but not full time, Zirtual has virtual helpers for hire that are ready to cross things off your to do list. The staff can complete business or residential related tasks, like travel coordination, scheduling and calendar management, appointment set-up, and event planning. You’ll receive a dedicated assistant once you decide on a package based on the amount of hours needed each month.

6. Care Zone

We’ve all probably needed medication at one time or another, and anyone with a family knows that keeping track of who takes what, when, and how much can quickly become a time and energy zapper, not to mention confusing. The Care Zone app is the solution to all of those problems. It allows users to keep lists of medications, dosages, and schedules on your phone at all times. You can store discharge instructions, therapy appointments, doctor’s notes, and even keep a journal of your symptoms and/or progress. Plus, you can securely and privately share all of the info with your spouse or other trusted party.

Take your life back and start freeing up resources with these great, time-saving apps that may also save your sanity. Have you test driven any of these apps? Are there any time savers on your smartphone that you just can’t live without? Share your thoughts on the EcoSalon Facebook page!

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Image of Woman on Cell Phone via Shutterstock

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The soup got torched, again. Zesty flavored whence removed from the can, the now smoky-flavored Trader Joe O’s went to school, anyway, in a pink thermos in the tin Blow Pop novelty lunch box. This, after a cursory taste test confirmed the impossible: She wouldn’t know the difference. Never mind that the cauldron it bubbled fiendishly in was tortured beyond repair. Never mind that she dissects her green beans to remove the bad parts before eating. I was reasoning with the clarity of Lenny from Mice and Men? Show me the rabbits, George. Nah, better not. I’ll probably burn them critters, too.

“Did you burn it while you were working on the computer in the basement?” she inquired, in that accusatory, sassy tween tone reminiscent of the damaged young stars of twit-coms. “Yes, I did it while working in the basement,” I confessed. “I’m so sorry. It won’t happen again.”

Appallingly, I also was exposed at school upon pick up time. The school secretary reported there was something wrong with the way the kid’s soup smelled. “It smelled off,” shared Juanita, scrunching her nose like my Pug dog, Mr. Jones, when ordering him to stop licking the Bounce sheets. Yeah, lady, what smelled off was my motherhood. Time to set some boundaries, right? Or at least install a kitchen timer in the basement.

Truth is, working from home via the computer is certainly a good way to go, but understand the perks and pitfalls. You save huge amounts of money and fuel by going about your business online. Commuting to work by car and writing it off is still commuting. No, telecommute if you can, even if the mouse in your house is a huge distraction – keeping you from becoming the Alice Waters you aspire to be.

Clearly, more of us are clicking with that mouse to earn a livelihood. The U.S. Census Bureau reports sizable increases in the number of Americans working out of their homes. It shot up from 9.5 million in 1999 to 11.3 million of us in 2005.  Half of all home workers have college degrees and earn at least $75,000 a year, and also work longer hours than the average worker to make that dough, about 11 hours per day.

Studies also show growth in the number of employees telecommuting on multiple days of the week, from 2.3 million in 2005 to 2006 up to 2.8 million workers from 2007 to 2008. Chances are it will keep rising, and want-ads will reflect that rise rather than the sprinkling of telemarketing options available now.

In the year 2010, telecommuting is hugely viable and still not always acceptable to backwards employers, who argue nothing replaces relationships formed at the cooler. Not even forgoing costly commercial rental space.

But those who understand the benefits admit technology has outmoded the need to traverse the country in jet planes and rack up business class frequent flier miles to do business. It has outmoded the need to show up to a cubicle every day with your tail wagging to get a bone. That way of doing biz is up in the air and destined to being grounded for good if we keep it up. I know you know what I mean by keeping it up.

Meanwhile, back to the soup. There are unavoidable pitfalls and some avoidable ones to multitasking in too comfortable of an environment, namely, one that you control 100 percent.

Unavoidable

You will find the cut-off time to be elusive when your office is where you also shower, cook, social network, pay bills, wash clothes and generally manage your own life and or the lives of children and other living things. Yes, plants count.

You often cough up your own medical insurance unless the employer has it covered, struggle to squeeze in exercise which actually is easier to do once you are already out and about, and may decide to screw the housework which you would ordinarily fit in before work in the morning or when you get home. Ah ha. See, you don’t leave and you don’t come home. Hello piles of dirty clothes and towels, sink of dishes, unmade beds. Wouldn’t you rather work than tackle those unpleasant chores? Isn’t it because you hate housework that you dive into work in the first place?

Avoidable

Over-scheduling. Don’t do it. It will lead to overwhelm which will lead to wine with lunch on the couch. You can still stick to a schedule like any office rat, just give yourself a window of completing must-do tasks and prioritize as you go. Then visualize the stop button on the treadmill and push it when the time comes to clock out. Warning. If you devote time to social networking during much of your down time, there will be no down time. Limit that as well.

And do place that timer in the home office. My sister gave me one years ago and when I reorganize the kitchen drawers I bet I’ll find it. No school secretary deserves to smell rotten soup. Sorry Juanita. If I can hyperlink, download images, Facebook and Twitter, I should be able to time a pot of pasta soup on the stove. I won’t give up, won’t  resort to peanut butter and jelly and return to the cold and rigid environs of a corporate work setting.

Keep telling yourself that. Better yet, send a Gmail reminder to your Yahoo account, print it and tack it on the bulletin board in front of your computer. Add the affirmation, Telecommuters rule. Then get out of your pajamas, have some lunch, do a load of laundry, say hello to the mailman, and get back to work.

Images: Fabio Bruna; SuperFantastic; Shari Thompson

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Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? was the haunting battle cry of the last great depression. These days, many of us are begging for something even more elusive: time. Please, mister,  just give me an extra hour to squeeze in a run or a massage, a free weekend to go camping rather than paying bills and scrubbing the bathroom tiles.

Increasing research proves we are struggling in this time warp and are decidedly more stressed over time losses than wage losses or the exorbitant price of things. If it is a given that we value minutes over moolah, than what can we do to conquer the clock?

For one thing, it is clear many workers don’t bother taking the vacation days they have earned at work, according to a somewhat self-serving Westin Hotel survey. It found that while nearly 70 percent of those questioned feel revived after a break, a whopping 75 percent of us are too busy keeping up the pace to actually de-stress on a vacation. It was clear that a bulk of those who keep working rather than beaching or camping are fearful about job security (ah yes, the American way!) and at least 30 percent of those who do manage to take off check in with work every day.

One reason for working through earned time is that we have the least paid vacation days of any nation, which makes taking off even harder in a recession. Americans are afforded just 13 paid days on the average, compared with 42 days in Italy, 37 in France and 35 in Germany. Even if you take those paid golf days (as our president did), they usually don’t amount to many hours goofing off and having fun or just feeling your life. We all know how necessary this is for recuperating from the stress and strain of working and managing our lives.

Professional women often face a double whammy of keeping things up both at work and at home, believing they have no time to escape from either job. Studies continually show these demands are not imagined but rather expected of them. Working women who work from home become exhausted from the multi-tasking while commuters who don’t opt for public transit are often running on empty.

Shelling out $15 an hour for a house cleaner or babysitter could eat up too much of the income needed for the mortgage, medical insurance (it keeps going up, Mr. President), school-related expenses and other money-sucking priorities. Meanwhile, these women are prone to play housemaid on  Saturdays, catching up on laundry and paperwork that falls behind during the busy workweek.

As the most overworked country in the world, it is hard to strike a balance. Even during a recession when have been tossed to the unemployment lines, we are forced to spend free time still caring for children or searching for work. The ego often prevents professional men from lazing on hammocks. Some even continue to dress the part as they search for new work online a home or coffee shops. Despite the fact that taking a breather is often the most beneficial way to gain new momentum, it can be humiliating to appear as if you have nothing to do.

While many Americans say a good income can improve their lives, few find it can buy happiness. People keep busy 24/7 – so busy they often forget to laugh and have fun, or waiting for that free moment when chores are done to reward themselves. Many of us also stress about using time to catch up on our connections, email or Facebook, and the time we needed to restore ourselves gets eaten quickly, according to Zenhabits, which compiled useful list of 20 ways to reclaim your time. One is to make a short list of four to five things you love to do and to actually make room for them. Another is to learn to say “NO”.

An important thing to remember is not to be so stressed over your time management that you lose sleep over it, since sleep is also vital for the body to rest and for the brain to repair cellular damage and absorb nutrients. If you get a free moment, you are better off with a nap than a coffee break. Sleep deprivation resulting from stress, or relaxing in front of the tube rather than socializing or enjoying music, just aggravates the sense of loss, experts say. And then you go around not only being time strapped, but as a cranky time strapped zombie.

Perhaps the goal is not to save up on time, like we try but fail to save up on money, but to spend it the right way. The bathroom tiles can wait. Your health and happiness cannot.

Image: merfam

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