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Overview
Despite what The Rolling Stones think, time really isn't on our side. The term 'work-life balance' is constantly thrown around, and juggling work, health, and happiness is no easy feat. Luckily for the share economy generation, life altering services are created everyday, cutting down time and costs on cooking, cleaning, travelling – you name it. Give your chores to your smart appliances and hit the beach instead; get your fresh, healthy meals delivered and say goodbye to the mess of a chef. We're bringing you the best time hacks out there, simplifying 'must-dos' to make so much more time for 'want-to-dos'.
TIME DRAINER: COOKING HEALTHY DINNERS
Let’s be honest — who wants to cook after working eight hours a day?! The struggle to maintain a healthy lifestyle is real. Foodie geniuses, Youfoodz, have found a way to save time cooking, by not cooking. They deliver fresh, ready-to-eat meals to your door that are healthy, delicious and affordable. With no shopping, cooking or cleaning, this means you can save 15 hours a week and have more time for the things that really matter in life.
TIME DRAINER: GOING TO THE GYM
Heading to the gym is one of the healthier things you can do with your time, but it can take a little chunk out of your day (making you less likely to actually go). Save time on journeying to inner city gyms and just use the time you have between places to get a little workout in — walk briskly instead of bussing it and track your progress with wearables. From smartwatches created by Apple and Samsung to the Smart Belt that adjusts for you, the future of clothing is all tech-based. Concern for your health has never been so easy to manage with companies like Heddoko making performance tracking workout clothing and Misfit creating the Swaroviski's Shine — a solar-powered, bling version of the Fitbit. The ultimate in bracelet technology, though, is easily the Nixie — a wearable droid that is literally revolutionising the selfie.
TIME DRAINER: CLEANING, ALL OF THE CLEANING
If you're planning a party but don't have time to clean, no worries — your appliances have you covered in a . With iRobot's Roomba, vacuuming is one less chore to think about — and if you strap an iPod to it, behold the immortal DJ Roomba. The newest in home cleaning, LG's HomeChat allows you to essentially iMessage all of your smart technology. With their instant messenger app, you can tell your dishwasher to run for a second cycle or put that load of laundry on from your phone. Having a party is now stress free — even if someone breaks a glass.
TIME DRAINER: DATING
Conventional speed dating is such a foreign concept to tech savvy daters. Apart from the ever-popular Tinder and slightly more romantic Missed Connections, the online dating scene is continuing to get faster and easier (pun partially intended). Whether you're into GPS tracking your meetups on Happn or pre-planning your first date with How About We, your dating game can be done in a heartbeat, making it easier to meet Mr/Mrs. Right, or Mr./Mrs. Right Now. On the other hand, this service will make your breakups easier, quicker and more profitable.
TIME DRAINER: BUYING PRESENTS
With Christmas around the corner, who has time to deal with the holiday rush? While Amazon delivers discounted goods from eBooks to Doctor Who paraphernalia and everything in between, creative sites like Etsy, Hunting for George, Sorry Thanks I Love You and RedBalloon have you covered on unique gift-giving. If you're going for really fast and cheap, the free delivery schemes with The Iconic and Asos are go-tos. Whichever gift you're after, you can spend that extra time with your loved ones, instead of shopping for them. Otherwise, try Concrete Playground's ultimate gift guide.
TIME DRAINER: GETTING ACROSS THE CITY
Waiting in taxi lines is a thing of the past. With Uber now (almost, almost) legalised by NSW and (definitely) ACT, you'll be hard-pressed to find someone without a 'personal driver'. The rideshare economy hasn't stopped there — startups like Airtasker have plenty of people waiting to drive you across town for a minimal fee, and international projects like New York's Via takes shared rides to the true sense and offers a five dollar ride anywhere in Manhattan. European-based BlaBlaCar even pairs road trip partners by how chatty you are. The only way travelling could get easier and more convenient is if jetpack technology takes off and the dream of the '90s classic The Rocketeer is realised — or if someone calls Elon Musk.
TIME DRAINER: GETTING READY IN THE MORNING
There's no place like home, especially when your home is smarter than you are. Amazon Echo makes your entire wake-up routine easier and even makes Siri seem obsolete. The cloud-based system is voice responsive and will recite any request on command, from the weather and traffic conditions to sports news and music preferences. This is one step in many voice-activated home systems, leading all the way up to the world's first personal robot, Jibo. The closest thing to Wall-E out there, Jibo is positioned as a loveable, 'hands free helper'. The bot independently taking photos and videos, connects to all home appliances and interacts personally to each member of the family.
TIME DRAINER: LIFE ADMIN
Nothing sucks the fun out of the day like personal, life admin, and with most businesses open only during office hours, you could be stuck using your sickie for the bank instead of the beach. Luckily, errands are becoming increasing web-based – you've probably used things like CommBank's cardless cash and apps with cheque scanning technology. But even doing your taxes is no longer a bore, with services like Etax that reduce the process to minutes. Being able to avoid these chores is a modern luxury like no other.
Massive time-saver Youfoodz is doing a special offer for CP readers. If you order by Wednesday for delivery this week, they'll throw in their new spinach and ricotta tortellini for free. Yep, free food. Head over to Youfoodz and order your next meal.
Images: Youfoodz, Dollar Photo Club, Fitbit.