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4 Apps For A Smarter Home

You’ll find that there are many smart phone apps as well as appliances that allow us to have an automated home.

Here are 4 apps for a smarter home:

  1. SmatThings
  2. Domoticz
  3. SURE Universal Remote
  4. Nest

Thanks to the help of these apps; all it takes is the tap of a button or voice command for a ‘smarter’ home. The development of software and technological systems have allowed us to take control over how we do things in our daily lives, especially at home! The benefit of this is that we don’t always have to be physically present when doing specific tasks, like turning off the light. Let’s take a look at how these apps work:

1. SmartThings

If you’re one who has SmartThings appliances at home already, this app will connect and control multiple devices such as smart devices, home appliances, TVs and speakers that are registered on the server via Wi-Fi AP. You can automate actions contextually and control your devices even when you’re not home. Check out these appliances that work with SmartThings.

2. Domoticz

This app is NFC supported which allows you to control and monitor your home appliances from the lights, switches and fans, to various sensors/meters like temperature, gas and water consumption, and much more! Through geo fencing features, Domoticz allows you to control these appliances even when you’re almost reaching your home. You also have the option to control your home from your wrist or via talk back features.

3. SURE Universal Remote

Sure Universal is a Smart TV Remote Control app. It lets you control your home entertainment and smart home.  The app can also cast music, videos and photos on the TV and other smart devices. You can also have full control of your smart home, Chromecast, Kodi, Roku and smart TV (Samsung, LG, Sony, Sharp, TCL, Toshiba, Hisense, Panasonic and more) , with built in Alexa and the power of your voice.

4. Nest

Only suitable if you have Nest products. The Nest app give you the ability to control all of it’s products from the Nest learning Thermostat to arming and disarming your Nest Secure alarm system.

In case you, let’s say for example, forgot to turn off the heating before you leave the house, Nest uses sensors, algorithms and your phone location to automatically turn it off

 

If you haven’t already, download our FREE Laundryheap app to make your laundry & dry cleaning collections easier! Available on iOS and Android.

outsource life through digital apps


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How To Outsource Your Life

In this day and age, there are so many ways to outsource tasks you do in everyday life. It has become so easy to find individuals who can do almost any task for you, at a reasonable fee.

Through the convenient accessibility of an app or through the click of a mouse, you can outsource either your least favourite chores, tasks you find difficulty in doing or tasks that you need to stay on top of.

Let’s take a look at some ways you can outsource your life:

Food

For the days where you don’t have time to physically go out to shop for groceries (or you’re just feeling a bit lazy), major supermarkets such as Tesco and Asda have delivery services to save you the time. You can also use online supermarket services like Ocado.

If you can’t quite decide what meal to cook let alone what ingredients you’ll need, Hellofresh let’s you choose what meals you’d fancy eating and sends you the recipe with fresh ingredients! You can choose how many people you’re cooking for (2-4) and how many recipes you’d like per week (3-5), it’s also great for vegetarians.

Finally, if you don’t want to do any cooking at all or just can’t, numerous services such as Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat will deliver restaurant food straight to your door!

outsource preparing food

Household Chores

For daunting chores that nobody likes doing but has to be done, there are services that provide help with laundry, general cleaning and handyman work.

Who best to go to for your laundry except for Laundryheap! If you’re new to our services, we collect and deliver your laundry (or dry cleaning) to your door within 24 hours, for free!. We also offer Ironing services. That’s laundry day done!

For cleaning tasks, and I mean any household cleaning tasks (even the cleaning of household appliances) you can book services like HelplingHandy, Bizzby or Taskrabbit. They’ll take care of all that dirt for you.

Handy and Taskrabbit can also take care of general house tasks like housekeeping or assembling furniture. For more handyman kind of tasks, Bizzby specialises in helping you with plumbing, electrical, appliance issues and all that stuff that causes inconvenience.

outsource cleaning

Travel

Your general taxis and cabs have been around for a long time, but now with taxi apps like Uber, it’s become more convenient than trying to find a number to call. Just pin point your location and where you want to go and a driver will be there in a few minutes!

If you need or prefer to travel by yourself, digital guide maps such as Citymapper help you get around via public transport and can also gives you directions for if you wish to travel by uber. Waze is an app that navigates you whilst you’re driving and takes you on the best route. Both of these apps gives you an ETA and warns you of any real-time traffic.

Buying tickets to go abroad for a cheap price just got easier with hopper. This service finds the best dates to fly out for a cheap ticket price. It also tells you when to wait for both hotel and flight ticket purchases to make the most of a bargain.

For a more personalised trip, Skyscanner compares multiple airlines, hotels and car rental services to help you get the best prices.

outsource travel

Work

Maybe your work load is getting a little too hectic and you think there are just some small tasks that can easily be completed by someone else. Services such as Fiverrr and Upwork provide a variety of experienced freelancers to get your business tasks done. 

If you procrastinate a little too much or you’re one who gets easily distracted, RescueTime will help you get productive again. This service monitors your daily digital habits and gives you a detailed report on your activities. This should help you to manage your time and minimise spending time on things that need less of your attention

If you need an extra day-to-day helping hand, Zirtual gives you your own personal assistant! It’s basically a real person but helping you digitally.

outsource work

Well-Being

You probably don’t realise, but the most important thing above everything is your health- mind and body! But sometimes work life balance gets a bit difficult and other priorities come first that we forget to look after ourselves. 

Exercising can become easy without going to the gym. Apps like Keep trainer, Sworkit, and Zova give you short but effective workout videos that you can try anywhere and helps you keep track of how many calories you’re burning, as well as showing you your exercise duration. 

If you find yourself stressing, feeling a little emotional or overwhelmed with troubled thoughts, apps such as HeadspaceWysa and Calm will give you guided mindful and meditation exercises to keep you at ease. You can also talk to an AI bot on the Wysa app if you feel the need to vent, work through an issue or if you simply need cheering up!

outsourcelife

Let us know in the comment section what other ways you can do to outsource your life!


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How to look presentable at all times

Trying to find the fine line between prioritising life goals and keeping up to date with new trends and styles seems like a constant battle. To top it all, looking your best becomes a burden as there’s less time to plan your daily schedule.

Here are a few tips on how to look presentable at all times.

  1. FIND A STYLE THAT COMPLIMENTS YOUR BODY: This might seem irrelevant but believe you me when I say that knowing your body type and marking your style can be the first and best step to looking fabulously chic and classy. By doing so you know what you want to invest in. Hence you don’t have to spend a fortune on clothes that end up sitting in your wardrobe gathering dust just because you initially thought it was on the sale rack so it’s a good bargain.IMG_2002
  2. IRON: Wait what? Yes I know, the word itself seems like a party pooper but trust me when I say it is totally worth it. It is necessary to iron your clothes to prevent creases, and ironing contributes immensely to your physical appearance because it makes you look presentable and more put together.78654130

    If you’re someone who is instantaneously put off by ironing, then one good thing to keep in mind while shopping is to go for wrinkle-free clothing to save you the headache of ironing.

    Fabrics such as wool, lyocell polyester, and cashmere, can mostly resist wrinkles by far than fabrics like rayon, cotton, and silk. Well-sorted clothing can also slash seconds off the time you spend on outfit prep.

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  3. AIR DRY YOUR CLOTHES BEFORE STORING: After you take off your clothes like jackets/coats, shoes, and suits, air dry for couple of minutes before you put them away. This will prevent damp smells, fabric pilling and will help avoid creasing.

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  4. INVEST IN A GOOD WARDROBE / STORAGE: Putting your clothes away requires appropriate storage not only to help you keep things perfectly organised, but also to help prevent your clothes from getting creased or ruined.

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    As most of us know, we use the “CHAIR” as the most reliable storage option, just after finishing the laundry. Rather than sorting out the freshly laundered clothes, we just pile them on there to the point where the chair gives up on us.

    To avoid that, just put things back in their allocated place so you don’t have worry about ironing when you want to use a specific outfit, especially on an urgent errand.

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  5. USE LAUNDRYHEAP: The easiest tip of the lot is to use Laundryheap for chores like laundry, ironing and sorting. Then all you have to focus on is your style.


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LAUNDRY TIPS FOR BUSY PARENTS

With the chaos of getting things done and having to look after the little munchkins, it’s almost impossible to not get overwhelmed by chores, especially the never-ending story of doing laundry.

Here are a few laundry tips to help you save time.

  • PRE-SORTING THE LAUNDRY: Let’s face it, laundry is a chore that is time-consuming. A good idea is to have different baskets for different fabrics, colours, and the condition of laundry. Not only is it time-efficient when the need arises to do the laundry, it also prevents mistakes and having to deal with the possibility of colours bleeding onto another fabric and ruining your clothes.

 

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  • HANG ACCORDINGLY:If you despise ironing, one practical trick to consider is to hang your laundry once out of the machine to prevent extreme creasing. Moreover, if you’re dealing with washed and dried clothes, it’s best to put away on hangers and if possible colour coordinate hangers for specific clothes. Not only does this give your wardrobe a very refined and colourful look, it also creates space and helps differentiate your clothes for different purposes. Nothing is worse than having to ransack your closet for one specific outfit on a busy day.

 

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  • HAVE OTHERS CHIP IN: There’s nothing wrong with you asking for a helping hand. Your children can do simple things like allocating their dirty clothes to the right laundry basket or sorting and folding after themselves. In addition, that gives you an opportunity to focus on other pressing chores around the house.

 

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  • SET SPECIFIC DAYS: To avoid the laundry from overflowing, try to wash the clothes that are used the most; that way you don’t get intimidated or overwhelmed by your laundry. Set specific days for different types of laundry, for example, Wednesdays for coloured fabrics and Sundays for bedding, towels, rugs etc.


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  • MULTI-TASK: While waiting on the laundry in the washer, you can either put the other batch in the dryer or try to invest your time in doing the ironing. It helps immensely with your productivity as well as decreases your chances of procrastination.


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If you’re still uncertain or don’t have time to do the laundry, you can schedule your laundry with us and we’ll gladly sort it out for you.