My Top 5 Most Valuable Apps

If you are like me, every few days you are greeted with a phone notification informing you that you are running out of storage. Every time I see it, I curse not choosing the iPhone with larger storage capacity when I had the chance. I have done a lot to manage my storage, including deleting all my photos off my device (they are backed up in Google Photos), deleting all my voice mails, text messages, and even my conversations in Facebook Messenger. But at some point I had to bite the bullet and delete some of the apps that I just don’t use that often, even ones that I (gasp!) paid for at some point.

The process is very similar to decluttering your house. You look at an item and ask yourself, “Do I actually use this? Does it bring any value to my life?” A lot of times I find myself justifying keeping something because I want to be the type of person that will actually use it. Case in point: my bicycle which has been collecting dust in the shed for over five years. “But what if my car breaks down and I have to use my bike?” I ask myself.  The “what ifs” always get me. The Minimalists often say that “just in case” are the three most dangerous words in the English language. We can always justify keeping something that just clutters our space and we never really use because we may need it in some future scenario.

The annoyance of seeing this phone notification won out and I finally cleaned up the apps on my phone. I thought it might be helpful to share the apps that bring the most value to my life, not including e-mail or social media apps. You may be familiar with some of these, but hopefully will learn something new!

1Password. If you are keeping your passwords in a physical place, like a notebook or a scrap of paper in your desk drawer, WAKE UP. If you are using the same password for every single website you use (as I used to do), please please PLEASE stop doing this. 1Password is the service I use, but there are several other options out there. 1Password opens with a single master password phrase (or your thumbprint depending on what phone you use), and keeps passwords, credit card info, and more. It also has a nifty password generator that can help you meet even the most stringent password requirements.

Evernote. I no longer have paper files because I have everything stored in Evernote. This includes notes from conversations, current records, historical documents (like my childhood medical records and elementary school artwork!) and much more. We have the Evernote ScanSnap scanner which is amazing to quickly scan all your documents and allow you to search within them. If you are concerned about security, I would encourage you to visit Evernote’s website to learn more about how your information is protected. I was recently at a doctor’s appointment where they asked me about the results of previous genetic testing. I was able to pull up the report in a few seconds and provide them with the details they needed.

First5. For years I have tried to get in the habit of reading a chapter from the Bible each day, but found it difficult to stay motivated. Scripture is also very hard to interpret when you don’t understand the historical context. I started using First5 several months ago, which is an app offered by Proverbs 31 Ministries. The premise is that you spend the first five minutes of your day with a Bible teaching and reading a chapter of the Bible. The teachings are extremely helpful and there is a vibrant and supportive online community. It encourages me and helps focus me before the day gets crazy.

Wunderlist. Wunderlist is a list-making app, and while there are several options out there, my husband and I like the functionality of Wunderlist. We use this for grocery shopping, the week’s meals (and locations in our cookbooks), packing, and general to-do’s. It’s helpful for grocery shopping as a team because you can divide and conquer and the lists update automatically. You can set reminders and assign to-do’s to other people, and share lists.

Think Dirty. Per the Think Dirty app website: “Think Dirty® app is the easiest way to learn about the potentially toxic ingredients in your cosmetics and personal care products.” I recently became aware that many of the personal care and cosmetic products I was using included hormone-disrupting chemicals. Whether these had any impact on my “unexplained infertility” diagnosis, I can’t say, but once I was aware I wanted to find an easy way to know what ingredients were in my products as well as safer alternatives. Think Dirty allows you to scan any item to check against their database of 776,361 products (and growing). Each product is given a risk assessment based upon the potential health impacts of its published ingredients. The app also provides you with safer alternatives within each type of personal care product. I recently went through every product in my bathroom using the app, and now feel confident of the safety of the products I’m using.

What are your most valuable apps? Leave a comment!