The holidays are normally a time to express love for one another by exchanging gifts and filling up on delicious food and drinks. However, the stress of traveling, being away from home, and spending time with that one family member can also make the holidays more stressful than doom-scrolling through your news feed. Here are the tech tools that will help you maintain your sanity over the holidays.
1. Meditation and Mindfulness Apps
Meditation has proven to be one of the best practices to relieve stress and reduce anxiety—precisely what you'll need when your family starts talking politics. There are many meditation and mindfulness apps to help combat stress and anxiety that can lead you through a variety of activities.
Options range from simple exercises like following your breath and metta (wishing others well) to more interesting and potentially liberating non-dual practices, which are centered on the idea that you do not exist, and that awareness is everything and nothing at the same time.
That said, the benefits of meditation are cumulative. While a quick retreat into a closet or basement might do you some good over the holidays, you might want to start practicing now for next year's get-together. Your future not-self will thank you.
2. Ring Lights
If you don't have the great fortune of visiting friends or family in person this holiday season—say, for instance, you are studying overseas—don't have the cash to travel home, or prefer to limit your physical exposure to real humans, then you might be doing some virtual visiting over the holidays.
If this is the case, you will want to look your best, which means not only throwing on your favorite ugly sweater but also pairing your webcam with a ring light to highlight your features. Ring lights are the same piece of kit that your favorite (or most disliked) influencers use. Photographers also use ring lights when taking portraits to soften their subjects' faces.
There are several ring lights on the market, which range in size from 6 to 12 inches, can be used with mobile devices or laptops, and come with adjustable color temperatures between 3,000K (warm lighting) and 6,500K (natural lighting). These features will make sure you look your best.
3. Smart Meat Thermometer
Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a giant slab of meat to feast on. In many families, Christmas also wouldn't be Christmas unless that slab was overcooked. To be the hero that helps your family avoid this disaster, consider picking up a digital meat thermometer. The latest smart meat thermometers come equipped with tons of features to reduce the stress associated with under or over-cooking food. Smart meat thermometers also make great gifts!
And these devices live up to their name: they are pretty smart. Features include the ability to measure both the internal and external temperature of food, guidance on how long to cook different types of meat to different doneness levels, alerts to make sure you don't overcook anything, and Bluetooth/Wi-Fi connectivity. All of that means you can watch a football game in the garage with your favorite cousins without worrying about having to check the oven.
4. Noise-Cancelling Headphones
It's quite possible that the best way to maintain your sanity over the holidays is to completely block out every sound that your family makes. If this is the case, consider picking up a pair of the best sound-canceling headphones.
Having a pair of these in your bag will mean you can get some quiet time no matter where you are. You can use noise-canceling headphones to listen to a guided meditation on Spotify without being disrupted, distract yourself with a podcast that will leave you feeling inspired, or listen to one of the most relaxing songs of all time according to science.
5. E-Readers
Digital books offer convenience and choice, all at the touch of a button, no matter where you are. So if you plan on traveling and expect to find yourself in an airport or bus station or expect to have downtime waiting for the festivities to begin, consider picking up one of the best eReaders available. These devices make fantastic travel companions.
Different e-readers offer different benefits, but some things to look for include size, battery life, waterproof capability, and whether the e-reader will contain ads. Another important feature to keep an eye out for is the ability to connect to your local library's digital collection—something the Kobo Libra allows. This lets you check out books and even audiobooks without paying a penny.
6. Digital Wallet
For better or worse, the holidays are synonymous with gift-giving for many people. If you have a lot of people to buy for, your credit card might catch fire by friction. Instead, use a digital wallet to have the easiest time tip-tapping your way through the holidays.
If you've resisted setting up a digital wallet for privacy concerns, rest assured that by setting up your smartphone with one of the best digital wallet apps, your private account info will be stored securely. Popular options include Apple Pay for iPhone users, Google Pay for Android users, and Samsung Pay for those with Samsung smartphones. Facebook and Amazon also have digital wallets for purchasing items online.
7. Smart Speakers
A Smart Speaker is perhaps the best piece of tech to help you maintain your sanity over the holidays and make the holidays less stressful using Google Assistant. These speakers can do so many things, from telling you when the mall is least busy to setting reminders about needing to pick up a turkey. They can even entertain the kids by telling them a story or give you updates on the weather in case you were wondering if Uncle Close Talker will make it to Christmas dinner (he always sits next to you, doesn't he?).
One of the best ways to get into the holiday spirit is to play some of those time-tested Christmas jams. Luckily, you can ask your smart speaker powered by Google (or Alexa) to simply "play holiday music" and it'll pick a random playlist from your preferred music app. If you already have a curated holiday playlist ready to go, make your request even more specific, like "Hey Google, play my Christmas playlist on Spotify on maximum volume."
Stay Calm and Positive This Christmas
Christmas truly is one of the most wonderful times of the year. It can be even better with the right accessories. So before you pack your bags and head off to visit your family and friends, consider adding one of these pieces of tech to your pack so that you can spread a little more cheer and come out of the holidays with your sanity intact.