The Juggle is real. For New mums, working mums, SAHM’s and mums of multiples – paddling furiously to keep our heads above water seems woefully inevitable. Saving a few minutes here and there can make the all the difference. Designed to give you back a little control in the chaos, here are the 5 best apps for busy mums. Work smarter not harder and kick start your efficiency goals this year with these savvy time saving productivity apps.
Paprika
Motherhood comes with all types of decision fatigue, but if the daily dirge of “what shall we eat tonight?’ fills you with anxiety and dread like me, Paprika will likely become one of your favourite apps.
Paprika is a simple and intuitive recipe management app. It allows you to download and store recipes from websites and blogs via its in app browser. You can also manually add your own recipes, leaving you with a curated portfolio of favourite dishes literally in your back pocket. From these recipes it can generate meal plans synced to a calender and grocery lists perfectly organised into aisle location. Sync with another family members device and you can both tick off items as you shop the supermarket to halve your shop time. Paprika can also store a running inventory of your pantry.
The Paprika app may not turn you into an overnight Gordon Ramsay but it will bring order, efficiency and dare I say it joy to the feeding process. It will also save you time and money in the long run.
Best for: Anyone who massively overspends at the supermarket to then realise they haven’t all the ingredients for an actual meal.
Price: £4.99 (mobile app) £19.99 (desktop version) More expensive than most apps but in my opinion, worth the extra cost. However please note – Some of these features are included in the Cozi app which is free!
Squeezy
No time to hit the gym or see a physio in your busy schedule? Squeezy is a workout app with a difference. This multi award winning, NHS crafted app is the next best thing for those who want to maintain the health of their pelvic floor muscles. The squeezy app was originally aimed at women – pregnant, postpartum and menopausal but now features programs for men also.
Thankfully pelvic floor exercises or keegles can be done anywhere, without anyone knowing. They are particularly essential for mothers in each stage of their journey but are also easily overlooked in a busy mum’s daily routine. Squeezy serves to remind and hold you accountable for doing these exercise with reminder alerts and progress charts. Visual guides are on hand to aid the squeeze and release action which can be tricky to master.
The app can be used either independently or synced with a physio’s plan.
Best For: Anyone who needs to strengthen their pelvic floor but particularly mums to be and postpartum mothers.
Price: Previously free, now £2.99
Ruuby
Ruuby facilitates last minute beauty appointments in the comfort of your own home, office or hotel. Likened to Uber, this London centric app will identify the best therapists in your vicinity who are available to come straight to your door for an emergency mani or blow dry.
The list of services is broad with all the usual beauty treatments as well as massage, Osteopathy and Physio on offer. Ruuby only supply the very best therapists and customers can view reviews before booking. Fair rates and excellent usability.
Best For: New mums navigating baby’ sleep/feed schedule. No Childcare required and less time wasted getting to and from a salon. Perfect for impromptu family visits or work meetings.
Price: Free app
Peanut
Dubbed Tinder for Mums, Peanut seeks to connect like minded women at different stages of their lives – Trying for a baby, Pregnancy, Motherhood and Menopause. Simply swipe to wave at a potential mum friend in your location and skip to striking up a friendship. The app is full of content, feeds and chats that women will find useful and puts a community at their fingertips. Also a great way to meet playdates for the kids!
Best For: Anyone who needs to feel the support of a community/ friendship. Working Mums who may not have the time or opportunity to seek out these relationships in the playground/playgroup.
Price: Free App
Just Watch
Just Watch allows you to search for a movie or series of your choice and locate which streaming service you are able to watch it through. For services where you do not hold a subscription it will compare rent or buy prices so you are always getting the best deal and effectively not paying for something you already have access to elsewhere.
Best for: Busy parents who are partial to a little screen time here and there. Those who like to get their money’s worth and avoid ‘renting on prime only to discover it was on Netflix all along’.
Price: Free app
The Tot Loft (Launching Soon)
‘Make Money. Save Money. Live sustainably.’
Self touted as the ‘Air bnb’ of baby wares. the Tot loft essentially hooks you up with other local parents to rent or lend baby items. The Tot loft believe there are already enough buggies, carriers and bouncers in circulation and is aiming to encourage us to rethink unnecessary overconsumption. At the time of publishing this app is still prelaunch. visit www.thetotloft.com
Best For: Parents who wish to limit their impact on the world and live sustainably. Those without space to house all the gadgets and seek to rent over buying new.
Cozi
Last but not least – the game changer. The ultimate calendar app for families which aims to make sense of chaotic schedules and keep everyone on the same page. The Cozi family organizer app offers a colour coded shared calendar synced across the devices of each member of the family. It can be further synced with google calendar, apple calendar and outlook for easy importing .
A great way to keep tabs on everyones activities – appointments, clubs, birthday parties as well as work enagagements, trips and upcoming events. Comes with a handy automatic repeat feature for reoccurring clubs and practices. Shared to-do lists, shopping lists, meal plans and chore lists keep the entire family in the loop. The Cozi app further enables you to set reminders and send agenda emails if needed to flag important tasks and clarify responsibilities.
An amazing app and useful tool to support busy family life, avoid miscommunications and hold one another accountable for doing their bit.
Additional highlights include a meal planner and easy family recipe hub to inspire weekday cooking, with ingredients imported to grocery shopping list in one easy click.
Best For: – Everyone, particularly larger families. Separated families may also fid it helpful to stay connected. And the best part? – A great way to highlight to non primary caregivers just how much actually goes on! (suggested further reading : Doing it all – 12 Unusual signs of Maternal Gatekeeping) and implement a schedule of household chores for the kids. If you only download one app this year….
Price : Free App
