3 Ways to Use Technology to Simplify Your Life at Work and at Home

As a busy working woman, you probably rely on at least some form of technology to make your life easier. From using your smartphone to keep in touch with your kids and access your banking info to using financial and household-related apps on your tablet, technology can be extremely helpful.

There are also some days when the over-abundance of readily available technology and gadgets seems overwhelming. While you might want to add in new tech features to make your life run even smoother, some may seem like overkill. With this in mind, the following three types of tech tools are designed to make your work and/or home lives as easy as possible.

A Smart Thermostat

If you are trying to save money on your energy bills, a smart thermostat can help you to achieve your goal. The Nest Thermostat learns your habits and will adjust automatically to regulate your home’s temperature based on your schedule. To find the most energy-friendly temperature, the Nest Leaf feature will let you know when you select a temp that is especially efficient. If you download the free Nest app, you can adjust the device from your smartphone or iPad — even while sitting at your desk at work.

A Smartphone with Artificial Intelligence

If your thermostat can figure out that you like your bedroom on the chilly side at night, your smartphone should also be able to figure out your patterns and behaviors too. The Qualcomm Artificial Intelligence platform lets your smartphone perform in a more intelligent way by sensing and anticipating what you will do on your phone.

For example, the AI platform could help battery performance on your phone by determining how much power a typical task will use and adjust accordingly. An AI platform on a smartphone can also help the device understand voice commands better, and it may also anticipate, based on what you have done in the past, which work-related websites you visit the most and pull them up for you.

But remember that even with the best battery use management, new apps and processes still put a lot of demand on the battery.  So it’s wise to keep extra USB chargers around and handy for a quick charge when you need it.

Google Home for Home and Office

Google Home is one of those devices that becomes more helpful over time as you determine more ways that you can utilize its powers. For example, commercials often show the Google Home being used to order pizza, check weather and turn on music — which are all certainly decent skills for an electronic device to have. But it can also go way beyond these tasks, both at home and in the office.

Through the power of your voice, Google Home can set your alarm, add meetings to your schedule, tell you about your upcoming work projects and their deadlines, add items to your shopping list, order needed products for the home and office, and manage your to-do list. If you are unsure when the big meeting with the boss is coming up, all you have to do is ask “Hey Google, when is that meeting at work with Jo?” and Google Home will tell you.

Let’s face it — technology isn’t going away. If anything, it will continue to evolve and get more advanced and detailed in its uses. Rather than let it overwhelm you, examine each new trend carefully to see if it will actually keep your world running smoothly, and act accordingly.