Clever tech hacks for less stress this holiday, from Amazon spoilers to family pics

Holiday tech hacks for recipes, cards and group photos

I’m not sure where this year went, but it’s time to dive headfirst into the festive frenzy. I’ve got some tech tips up my sleeve that’ll sprinkle a little magic on your celebrations. You’re gonna love ‘em!

1. Cook up a storm with a digital cookbook

If your recipes are printed or handwritten, snap a pic with your phone or tablet. Add them all to one folder (or try the Notes app on iOS or Google Keep for Android) for easy swiping. Listen here for more tips about that.

Cooking recipes you found online? Use this site to strip the ads, save the PDF versions and toss them all in one spot. There’s a free 14-day trial, so just remember to cancel if you’re not going to keep using it.

Now, let’s get your kitchen cooking tech stylin’ with two essentials:

An inexpensive phone and tablet holder (47% off, $7.99) will keep your phone or tablet out of the mess of flour, stock and butter in the kitchen. Btw, I use this one for my iPad when doing the show!
A stylus (20% off, $7.99) can be used instead of your fingers to advance videos or scroll.

2. Go with digital holiday cards

Canva, Adobe Express, Paperless Post and Mailchimp all offer solid options. Choose a template, whip up a greeting and send it in just a few minutes — no trip to the post office.

But if you want a personalized card to mail, you can pick a template and upload a photo on Amazon for 15 cards ($21.45; $1.43 each) or up to 250 cards ($180; $0.72 each).

3. Your best family pics in years

No more designating the family friend or someone’s random date as the chief photographer.

On iPhone: Open your Camera app and tap the up arrow at the top of the screen. Scroll to the option that looks like a clock, then tap it. Select a 3- or 10-second delay.
On Android: In the Camera app, select Timer and turn it on. Choose a delay of 2, 5 or 10 seconds.

📸 If someone insists on taking the pic, ask them to use Burst mode. All they have to do is hold down on the shutter button to capture a ton of photos at once. This gives you a better chance of having everyone smiling!

4. Remove the screen temptation

It’s not the time to be glued to your phone, scrolling headlines or social media. Need a little help disconnecting? I’ve got ya.

On iPhone: Open Settings > Screen Time.
On Android: Open Settings > Digital Wellbeing.

Rather than a blanket screen time limit, be strategic and limit the stuff that sucks you in. Maybe you set a 10-minute limit on Instagram, for example.

Having guests and wanting their time, not screen time? Tell everyone to put their phones in a locked box during dinner, at least. Or do what I do, and tell everyone to turn their phones over on the tables during dinner. The first person to look at his or her phone owes me $100!

5. Turn your TV into a digital fireplace

Don’t have a crackling fire? Search for “Yule log” on YouTube or your preferred streaming service. Boom — instant cozy vibes. Bonus points if you turn on your smart speaker to play holiday tunes in the background.

🎶 I always listen to Neil Diamond during the holidays. He’s got sweet carol lines. Sing it with me: Bum-bum-bum!