So, what’s it going to be this year? Are you vowing to work less and exercise more? Prioritize your overall health and relationships with your family? Or maybe you resolve to stop making New Year’s resolutions. Most of them fail miserably, after all.
As soon the champagne bubbles settle in the wee hours of January 1st, the reality sinks in: It’s 2025, and we need to be just as productive, organized and centered as ever. But do we really expect this year, and more importantly, this year’s resolutions, to be any different from years past?
Whether you promise to meditate more, streamline your workdays or find a creative outlet to let your brain soar, these apps can help you make 2025 the year you achieve your dreams.
Zen and the art of a balanced life
It’s always a good idea to head into the new year with a collective exhale. I use the Headspace app for my must-have meditation sessions, and it’s perfect for those moments when life feels like a blender going full-tilt without a lid. It’s not just cross-legged “ommm”-style meditations, either; Headspace now has active meditations for mindful movement and podcasts, too.
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My favorites are the meditations tailored to anxiety and self-esteem, which are serious lifesavers during my most hectic weeks. You get two weeks of Headspace for free, and the annual subscription is $70 for an entire year. That’s a small price to pay for peace of mind in 2025.
Sweating is a boon for stress relief, too. That glowing feeling you get after a nice workout session is hard to beat, but I don’t always have an hour to jog through the hills — in fact, when I’m traveling, there are rarely any hills at all.
FitOn is my go-to when I need an exercise routine that fits my life because I can grab anything from a quick 10-minute ab-crusher to a relaxing yoga sesh I can do in my hotel room.
You can try the app for free, but if you want to level up with meal plans and bonus features, the Pro version is reasonable at $40/year.
It’s probably apparent by now that I don’t have a ton of extra time on my hands. An ultra-busy lifestyle doesn’t mesh well with reading books, but I make it work with Blinkist. It’s an app that digests nonfiction books and serves you 15-minute summaries. Think of it like Cliffnotes, but for adulthood. I fold laundry and get productivity hacks and leadership tips from the top thinkers of our day. Works for me.
Another app that works to “read” books is Libby. If you have a library card, you can check out audiobooks and ebooks for free all year. I’m listening to a great one now, You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue (highly recommend), and doing it via Libby saves a ton of money versus buying each title from Apple Bookstore at $5-$20+ a pop, too. Did I mention that Libby’s 100% free?
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Financial savvy made simple
Speaking of spending too much money, January might be a time for resolutions, but saving money is a year-long affair. Rocket Money (you might have known them as “Truebill”) saves me cold hard cash every single month. You link it with your accounts, and it sniffs out recurring payments you might not even know you’re making. A streaming service you thought you canceled last year? A free trial that converted to an actual bill without you knowing? Rocket Money finds where you’ve been flushing money down the train and plugs those leaks. It’s free to try, with premium features ranging from $6 to $12 per month, but it pays for itself in no time.
With the cash you save, put some of it to work for you. Even investing newbies often find the Stash app easy to use. It’s a simple, accessible doorway to diversified investing, and you can start with as little as $5. The app has user-friendly educational tools and guides that turn investing confusion into empowerment.
When life gets a little too much, Todoist can be your North Star. I use it because I can finally see all of my calendars in one place, and it tracks my reminders and tasks from various apps. My brain just works better if I can see everything at a glance, and Todoist is that place. There’s a totally free beginner plan, but the paid Pro plan is $5 per month or $48 per year.
Connecting and creating
Nobody said adulting can’t be fun, right? Whenever I have a few minutes standing around an airport lounge or waiting for a meeting to start, I tap my worries away with Happy Color. It may sound childish, but coloring is a universal pastime, and these color-by-number adult coloring book pages deliver the goods. With thousands of soothing designs, it keeps me from doomscrolling and that’s priceless. It’s free, with a paid option to remove ads.
Speaking of childish fun, coloring is one thing, but sometimes parents have to set screen time rules and stick by them. Aura is super simple to set up and use, and it lets you pause internet access, monitor content, block sites and basically act as a guardian angel for your kids’ gadgets. It even works with the apps kids are addicted to right now, like TikTok and Roblox. It’s like digital training wheels, and it’s free to try, with a paid subscription priced at around $10 per month or $120 per year.
JenniferJolly is an Emmy Award-winning consumer tech columnist and on-air contributor for “The Today Show.” The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected].
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