Stress-free Mondays, available on smartphones everywhere

This sponsored post is produced in association with Life360. 

If weekdays were superheroes, Friday would be Batman and Monday would be Aquaman. Monday’s are nobody’s favorites, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be made better.

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With a smartphone and the right cocktail of productivity and entertainment apps, the dreaded start of the workweek can be made more than tolerable. Let’s examine how…

Waking Up

There’s nothing worse than the jarring *beep* *beep* *beep* of an alarm clock at 6:30 am, especially if you’re right at the end of an unresolved dream. Usually, you have two options: wake up and start the day, or snooze and return to dreamland.

Fortunately there is the Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock, an app that uses the accelerometers built into your phone to measure your sleep cycles. Set a half-hour window you’d like to wake up in during the morning and place the phone face down on your bed before dozing off. When morning comes, the app will wait until you’re out of deep sleep to sound its alarm.

If you prefer a more combative start to the morning, or if you don’t trust yourself not to hit the snooze button, try Wake N Shake. This app requires you to shake your phone vigorously until you’ve passed an acceptable threshold, resulting in a racing heart and inability to go back to sleep.

Getting Ready

As you get out of bed, open Closet, an app that lets you create a digital catalog of your clothes and choose what you’d like to wear without having to dig through drawers for items that go together. The app also has an option to plan outfits ahead of time as well, so you can plan ahead instead of trusting your morning self’s sartorial eye.

If you picked your outfit ahead of time, it’s probably worth checking Weather Line for the day’s forecast. Weather Line provides an easy to understand line chart that shows how the day’s weather will change as time goes on, letting you decide whether to grab a parka or rain coat before leaving the house.

As you go about the rest of your morning rituals — showering, brushing teeth, etc. — catch up on the morning’s news by listening to the Marketplace podcast through Instacast, a multifaceted podcatcher, and download any episodes of other podcasts you’d like to have access to as you go about your day.

The Morning Commute

If you’re driving to work, do yourself a favor and check the Google Maps app for traffic information. This maps app uses technology from Waze, the social navigation company that provides real-time traffic information, letting you see which route will get you to your office fastest.

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For commuters using public transportation, open up Moovit to find the fastest route to work. Moovit works best if you’re in an urban center with numerous options to choose from. Suburban public transit riders will find iNextBus is a simpler solution for a simpler commute, telling you, as the name might suggest, when the next bus will be arriving at your stop.

Enjoy the journey by tuning into a favorite radio station using Pandora or iHeartRadio and keep Breathe2Relax handy should you feel your stress level rising. The app will guide you through deep breathing exercises to help quell any rising tensions.

Arriving at the Office

As you walk through the door of your office building, quickly check your Life360 app to make sure your family members have all made it safely to their destinations as well. The app lets you receive automatic check-ins from approved family and friends, cutting out the need for the daily text messages of “did you arrive?”

On the elevator ride up to your floor, open EasilyDo to find out what your tasks for the day are, and by the time you sit down at your desk and log in, you’ll be ready to start the day strong.

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A stress-free Monday. Isn’t technology great?

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