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Use technology to achieve your goals this 2021. From getting fit and being more productive to learning new skills and saving more money, we’ve got the apps to help you start and stick to your New Year’s resolutions.

2020 was a rough ride, but it may have also helped you realize what you want and need most out of your life. Let 2021 be the year you live a healthier, smarter, and calmer life.

Exercise more
With most of us working and working out at home, apps can help you stay on top of your fitness goals. Whether you’re a novice or a gym rat, here are some options.

• obé Fitness. Choose from more than 4,000 unlimited live and on-demand cardio, strength training, and stretch classes led by New York City-based instructors.
• J&J Official 7 Minute Workout. Don’t have a lot of time to sweat it out? Start with the 7-minute workout—a simple, science-based exercise routine you can do anywhere. When you’ve built your stamina, work your way up to their 32-minute workouts.
• Nike Training Club. Choose from 190 free workouts to improve your strength, endurance, and mobility and target specific muscle groups. Virtual workouts range from 15 to 45 minutes.

(Also read: Fitness in the Time of COVID-19)

Eat healthier
Use these apps to track your calorie intake, find healthier alternatives to your favorite snacks, and cook your own meals.

• Lose It! Founded in 2008, the app has helped more than 40 million members lose more than 90 million pounds. Set your goals, track your calorie intake, plan your meals, and get advice and support from community members.
• MyFitnessPal. This free app comes with a searchable food database of over 300 million items, lets you create a personalized diet profile, and sync with your other fitness apps. It also has a blog chock-full of recipes, exercise tips, and inspiring success stories from members.
• Paprika. Make smart grocery lists that automatically combine ingredients and sort them by aisle. Create meal plans per week or month and save recipes from anywhere on the Internet.

Save more money
If greater financial security is one of your goals this year, check out these apps.

• Mint. This free app lets you create your budget, link all your financial accounts, and track your cash flow. It also gives you personalized insights to help you save more, spend wisely, and pay off debts.
• PocketGuard. Help curb overspending with this free app that tracks your income, expenses, and savings goals and tells you how much you can spend every day.
• Goodbudget. With its virtual envelope system, users can divide their monthly income for specific categories like groceries, bills, debts, and others. Because more than one device can access the same account, it’s great for families who share a budget.

Be more productive
Manage your time, get organized, and stay focused with these apps.

• Flat Tomato. Based on the Pomodoro Technique to stay productive, the app helps you work in 25-minute intervals to optimize your productivity and focus. Choose from simple themes, track your tasks on a calendar, and get statistics in graphs and diagrams.
• Todoist. This simple to-do list app lets you add, organize, and prioritize your tasks, and delegate them to your co-workers. You can set daily or weekly goals and see your progress in color-coded charts.
• Clockify. Perfect for teams, this free app lets you track the productivity and attendance of each member, mark billable hours, and create customizable reports.

(Also read: WFH as the New Normal: Perks, Pitfalls, and Pointers)

Learn a new language
While we’re all waiting for that glorious day when we can hop on a plane with less fear and more excitement, sharpen your language skills with these apps.

• HelloTalk. Make friends while beefing up your foreign language skills. Users can practice more than 100 languages by chatting with native speakers.
• Memrise. With its quiz-type games and video clips of native speakers going about their day, Memrise takes a fun, gamified approach to learning.
• HiNative. With this free Q&A app for language learning, you can ask and receive questions from native speakers. It supports over 100 languages and has over 5.6 million users worldwide.
• LinguaLift. Based on their own language learning system, this app offers a customized study plan, lessons on both language and culture, and tutor support.

Find peace
Carve out a few minutes in your day to get calm and centered with these apps.

• Buddhify. If you lead a busy life and barely have time to be still, this app could help. Choose from guided meditations in everyday circumstances and situations: while you’re walking, on public transportation, or can’t sleep.
• MyLife. Check in with how you’re feeling and then get a personalized mindfulness solution to help with your mood. A study conducted on 10,000 app users showed that they were 82% more likely to be less anxious after just 10 sessions with the app.
• Headspace. Get guided meditations to release stress, listen to music to help you focus, and learn exercises to help you wind down and prepare for sleep.

Whatever resolutions you’ve set for yourself this 2021, it would do well to remember that it’s a marathon and not a sprint. Take small but consistent steps, don’t let setbacks discourage you, and know that every day is a chance to start anew. We’ll be cheering for you from the sidelines.

As one of the Top 20 EMS companies in the world, IMI has over 40 years of experience in providing electronics manufacturing and technology solutions. 

At IMI, we believe that humanity drives technology, and we direct our passion at solutions that enhance our way of living.  With more than 400,000 square meters of factory space in 22 factories across 10 countries, we are positioned to build your business on a global scale.

Our proven technical expertise, worldwide reach, and vast experience in high-growth and emerging markets make us the ideal global manufacturing solutions partner.

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