Anna H.
I’ve always wanted to enjoy time alone with a nice Australian guy… Let me start over. I’ve always wanted to learn to meditate, or at least bring more mindfulness into my life, so I’m very excited to explore the app called Headspace. It lets you pick a general area you’d like to work on – appreciation, happiness, productivity, managing conflict, to name a few – and walks you through a process of experiencing is physically and mentally. You can start with the basics and build from there. It’s a process, and I get it, but it sure is more fun when someone with a nice voice tells you to close your eyes and take a deep breath.
Anastasia K.
So far, my new year’s app developments consisted of actually deleting unwanted and unused apps off my phone, in an attempt to make my digital space less unwieldy. From what has made the cut, I really love Wunderlist, which allows you to create tick-offable lists and has been my trusty replacement of a paper diary for a couple of years now, and Podcasts – mine is a regular Apple version, but you can download Acast or any other analog for your OS. I love listening to a pod or two for some relaxation before signing off for the day, or during a walk or daily commute to enhance the former and dull out the latter. Here are some of our podcast recommendations if you’d also like to get into that sort of thing.
Catherine Z.
2020 for me started with a wee bit of traveling, which led me to discover the glorious Russian Railways app. Although I wouldn't claim to be as in love with trains as the famous Sheldon Cooper, I do find it rather exciting and enjoyable - all that while also being eco-friendly. And now it is also incredibly convenient, as the app supports Apple, Google or Samsung Pay, remembers your profile details for future purchases and synchronizes both your ordinary and your bonus-tracking accounts. If you ever found the Russian Railways website slightly weird, I sincerely recommend checking out the app - planning short getaways or long trips has never been so fun before!
Anastasiia L.
To be honest, I don’t really like checking out new apps ‘cause it feels that even without them I spend too much of my time glued to my phone or a computer screen. I like technology and enjoy the perks that they bring but at the same time, I feel that I would like to be more mindful, more present, and just be in the moment more often. It’s quite a challenge though and to get myself going, I started using the screen time control feature on my phone. My eventual goal is to limit my phone screen time to three hours a day max and incorporate a two-hour digital detox before going to sleep (right now I’m practicing a 20-minute detox and it’s not going well).
