A smartphone buzzing with notifications. The morning deluge of emails, tweets and likes. The sheer dread of leaving the house with 10 per cent phone battery.

Technologic stressors like these have become so common that researchers have awarded them their own umbrella term: "technostress."

Naturally, solutions have emerged. Off-the-grid weekend retreats, mindfulness classes and even colouring books have claimed to salve the digital blues by pulling people away from screens and back into their heads.

But according to Alexandra Samuel, a Vancouver-based technology writer and researcher, tech doesn't need to be seen as the enemy. In fact, with a little strategy, she says digital tools can be harnessed to conquer everyday anxieties.

Samuel spoke with CTVNews.ca to offer tech-based solutions for five common sources of stress.

Nagging mom

Research has shown that keeping up with emails can be a major source of stress both inside and outside of work, and that tuning out every now and then can offer a restorative break.

However, when unplugging simply isn't an option, there are ways to efficiently manage your inbox by separating the professional from the personal.

For Samuel, this means occasionally blocking her mother's emails.

"My mom is a morning person, and she's also very engaged, so often by the time I've woken up she's sent three emails," Samuel said. "I don't like to start the day being nagged by my mom."

To solve this, Gmail offers simple filter options that allow a user to weed out certain contacts from their general inbox. This strategy can be used for kids, spouses, email-happy coworkers or anyone who drags you back to the inbox more often than necessary.

By delaying emails from her mom, Samuel says she can thoughtfully address them later in the day when she has more time and possibly a glass of wine in hand.

That in mind, it's not foolproof.

"I've yet to discover any technology that can fully manage my mom, but she's a tough case. Now she just texts me instead," she said.

Finding lost items

There's nothing quite as stressful as losing your wallet, so Samuel suggests investing in Tile, a Bluetooth-based tracking device that can be attached to nearly anything, from purses to keys to a cat's collar.

The small, water-resistant trackers can emit loud sounds to help you find an item around the house. If you think you forgot something at work or the gym, the app's map can pinpoint its exact location. And if you're prone to losing your phone, the Tile trackers can reverse-locate your device by calling it, even if it's set on silent.

Getting enough sleep

Sleepless nights can lead to stressful days, and recent Canadian research suggests that a lack of shut-eye can halt the brain from ridding itself of harmful toxins.

For these reasons, improving sleep quality through technology can have positive consequences.

To optimize rest, Samuel suggests downloading a sleep-monitoring App like Sleep Cycle. Available for both iPhones and Android phones, Sleep Cycle monitors a user's sleep pattern through a phone placed on the bed. It can also awake users with an alarm during their lightest sleep phase.

Many people watch TV before bedtime, but Samuel suggests that listening to a light-hearted audiobook can better ease a person to sleep.

"The [TV screen] light interferes with your sleep pattern, and an audiobook serves the same purpose of distracting you from thought," she said.

There's also the Fitbit bracelet, typically worn to track activity levels, which can wake up a wearer by gently tapping them on the wrist.

"It's a much less jarring way to wake up," she said.

Managing money

Staying on budget can be difficult to track, and arguments over money are a leading factor in relationship disputes. However, a few digital tools can help keep the financial woes at bay.

Samuel recommends Mint, an app that can be synced to your credit card to track spending and divide expenses into several categorized folders. The program can also send reminders of important bills and highlight any unusual spending.

For those who struggle to keep track of receipts, there's Expensify, an app that streamlines the oft-fraught task of compiling work expenses. Expensify can import credit card purchases, flights and even car mileage to ensure that no work expense goes unpunished.

Travellers can make good use of Tricount, a bare-bones app that compiles expenses within a group to make sure that, when several people split costs, the generous friend isn't left footing the bill. Tricount has several currency options and can be downloaded onto Android, iPhone and Windows 8 phones.

Parking

Anyone who lives in a big city understands the stress of downtown parking – finding a space, having proper change, tracking how much time is left on the meter.

Samuel recommends Pay By Phone, an app that links with a credit card to allow users to pay for parking on the fly. The service is available in at least 16 Canadian cities, including Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg.

The app also allows users to top up the meter remotely, taking away the stress of fighting the meter maid.

For days when parking spots are scarce, Samuel suggests using a car rental program like Car2Go, which provides users with designated parking spots they wouldn't normally be able to use.