productivity Archives | Cool Mom Tech

Our Alexa organization series: The best Alexa calendar skills

Next up in our Alexa Organization Series, we’re sharing some of our favorite Alexa calendar skills to help you keep your family organized. Whether you want to add events to a joint calendar, keep up with a shared to-do list, or just make sure you do not miss the next...

Kill News Feed: In case you need a little break from your Facebook feed

by Kristen Chase | Helpful Services

If you’re needing a little break from your Facebook feed, but still would like to be able to post, check your messages, and see your groups, then you should get Kill News Feed, a Chrome extension that will block out just your feed. Related: 8 ways to crush your...

Carpooling just got way easier, thanks to the Figure8 carpooling app

by Kate Etue | Productivity Apps

Managing my kids activities — and the time it takes me to get them there — is one of the more complicated parts of parenting for me. Carpooling is the solution that not only saves my sanity, but also helps out the environment. We have been impressed by...

A cool time-saving emoji keyboard trick for iPhone (courtesy of my 10 year old)

by Liz Gumbinner | Tips and Tricks

Leave it to the kids to figure out cool iPhone tricks before we do, especially where emoji are concerned. Turns out, there’s a fun way to insert emoji into your texts without toggling back and forth between keyboards — something that can be a bit of a...

The new hi-tech paper planner that’s blowing our minds

by Kate Etue | Productivity Apps

Even though I’ve become a strictly digital planner kind of person, but I do find myself missing paper planners. Well, Moleskine, who’s my long-time personal favorite source for old-school paper journals, has a brilliant new solution that’s exciting...

Inbox Pause: The new amazing new Gmail feature that can get you more work-life balance.

by Liz Gumbinner | Tips and Tricks

For ages now I’ve touted the wonderful benefits of Boomerang for Gmail to help me better manage my incoming and outgoing email, and it seems the folks at Google like the feature themselves. Because now Gmail has actually incorporated Boomerang’s technology...

Addicted to your iPhone? Try this one easy trick to seriously curb your screen time.

by Kate Etue | Tips and Tricks

I’ve been seeing a lot of research lately that seems to find a correlation between how much time we spend on our phones and our kids’ behavior. Specifically, their bad behavior. The constant distraction of pings and alerts from my phone that takes my...

Tech trend: The new Uber-for-Kids type services that play chauffeur for your kids so you don’t have to

by Kate Etue | Lifestyle Apps

When I first heard about apps describing themselves as uber for kids, I was dubious. Calling a random driver to pick my kids up from school just didn’t feel safe, and I thought I’d probably be a nervous wreck the entire time my kids were being transported....

Web Coolness: STEM Halloween costume ideas, a new Instagram feature that could help save lives, and lots more

by Cool Mom Staff | Link Roundups

Here are some of our favorite links from around the web. We hope you enjoy them too. Need some Halloween costume ideas? How about cool women in STEM! A crib that puts the baby to sleep? We’re intrigued. This new Instagram feature could help save lives. A very...

NEW: The podcast that helps you be a savvier digital parent in under 15 minutes a week

Hi! We’re Kristen + Liz

Kristen Chase + Liz Gumbinner of Cool Mom Picks

We started Cool Mom Tech in 2010 to help make our increasingly digital lives easier, more organized, more meaningful, and more fun, however old your kids may be.

We love that it's grown to become the go-to source for millions of parents who want commonsense info about tech delivered with a smile.

We even have the privilege of sharing our tips + tricks with The TODAY Show, CNN, HLN, GMA, Nightline, newspapers and magazines around the country, and our favorite -- regular parents who stop us at PTA meetings and ask us how old kids need to be to get a smartphone, and whether they really need to panic about Snapchat.

(Answer: It's complicated.)

We're so glad you're here! And we hope we can help you too.