The very idea behind owning a smartphone is that it will make you a better, more productive person.
Combining a plethora of technologies into a single device — phone, messaging, navigation, music player, alarm clock, and more — should equip you for almost any situation. Right?
Of course, that is not the case. Many of us waste too much time mindlessly staring at that tiny screen and failing to get anything done.
The good news is that your phone can help you be more productive; you just need to use it more carefully.
Here are 15 ways to use your Phone to Maximize your Performance.
15 ways to use your Phone to Maximize your Performance
Utilize your phone to improve time management and task scheduling
How well do you prioritize tasks and complete your to-do list?
If you need some structure in your day, you could try one of the many common time management techniques that rely on scheduling blocks of time to complete tasks throughout the day.
The Pomodoro Technique, for example, is a well-known strategy that divides your day into 25-minute increments. Install a Pomodoro app, such as Focus Booster or PomoDoneApp, or simply use your phone’s timer to chunk up your day.
Use your phone’s search function to find anything and everything
You probably waste a lot of time on your phone trying to find things, from apps and contacts to calendar entries.
However, the built-in search tool (pull down from the top of the Home screen) can find almost anything for you faster than you can. There’s no need to locate the calendar app, open it, and search for an upcoming appointment when you can go directly to it by searching for its name.
Contacts, email messages, text messages, apps, and websites are all affected. Spotlight Search on an iPhone is even more powerful than Android; it can even perform simple math without opening the calculator.
You can view all features of Spotlight here in this article.
Install visual voicemail if you have an Android device
If you’ve never used an iPhone, you might be surprised at how liberating its built-in visual voicemail is.
Rather than dialing into voicemail and listening to messages, iPhone users can view a list of their voicemails and select which one to listen to with a single tap.
However, you can get the same productivity boost on an Android phone because most major carriers provide their own free visual voicemail app. You can download the AT&T, T-Mobile, or Sprint app from the Google Play store.
Allow your phone to read aloud to you
Looking at your phone while driving is dangerous and frequently illegal.
You can make up for a lost time by having your phone read aloud to you.
An almost completely unknown iPhone feature can read aloud any screen — emails, text messages, web pages, app screens, and even Kindle books. To enable the feature, go to the Settings app and select “General,” “Accessibility,” “Speech,” and finally “Speak Screen.”
Swipe down with two fingers from the top of any screen to get your phone to read anything aloud.
Delete your biggest time wasters
There is no shortage of statistics that show how much time we spend on our phones. According to one recent survey, the average internet user spends two hours and 22 minutes per day on social networking and messaging platforms.
If this describes you, you already know how difficult it is to limit your use of social media — the entire experience is designed to be addictive. What is the solution? Delete all social media apps from your phone, forcing you to rely on your computer for that type of time-waster. Consider what you could accomplish if you had an extra two hours per day.
Pocket allows you to easily share websites with your computer
Without a doubt, you frequently come across articles and websites that you need to spend more time with and bookmark for later. There’s a much better way if you’re currently emailing these links to yourself.
Pocket is an iOS and Android app that allows you to save web pages with a single tap. They are immediately saved to your Pocket account, which syncs with your computer’s Pocket plug-in for Firefox and Chrome browsers.
Meditation can help you get centered
Typically, your phone serves as the Grand Central Station of distractions and multitasking. But, just for a moment, allow it to help you relax and center yourself. Using a relaxation app such as The Mindfulness App or Calm, you can set aside three to thirty minutes per day to conduct guided meditations and reset amid your hectic schedule.
Use the Do Not Disturb setting
Another way to achieve Zen — and work more effectively — is to turn off all of your phone’s usual distractions.
Turn on Do Not Disturb mode if you need an hour to work uninterrupted without phone calls, text messages, or other notifications taking your attention away from your project. Many people use DND at night but never consider it during the day.
On the iPhone, you can manually enable DND by swiping down from the top right corner of the screen and tapping the quarter moon icon. On Android, the procedure is similar: Find the “Do Not Disturb” quick-access button by pulling down from the top.
Synchronize your notes with your desktop computer
Normally, your phone and desktop computer exist in separate universes, making it difficult to share notes and documents without emailing yourself. However, by moving to the cloud, you will always have access to the same documents regardless of where you are or what device you are using.
Consider Microsoft OneNote or its popular competitor Evernote for taking notes. Both of these options keep everything you write on your computer and phone in sync. Use Google Docs for everything else — documents, spreadsheets, and presentations — or simply save your Microsoft Office files to a cloud service like Dropbox or OneDrive.
Replace your Keyboard with a better one
Want to type more quickly on your phone? If you find the default smartphone keyboards to be too slow and clumsy, consider downloading another one.
The elegant Swype keyboard has long been available to Android users, and it is now available to iPhone users as well. Swype (and similar keyboard alternatives) work by keeping your finger on the screen and swiping from character to character as if it were an Ouija board. Swype may appear strange if you’ve never used it, but it’s extremely simple to learn and can significantly increase your typing speed.
Allow white noise to relax you while you work
Working in a noisy office, or simply finding it difficult to deal with incidental distractions while attempting to concentrate? You’re a good candidate for background work with soothing white noise.
White noise can help you focus by masking background noises. Yes, there are white noise apps for both iOS and Android, but you don’t need to download one. Simply searching “white noise” in Spotify will bring up a plethora of white noise tracks, including traditional white noise “static” as well as nature sounds such as rain and waterfalls.
Consider listening to podcasts
When you’re driving, your first instinct may be to listen to music.
However, your commute time is an excellent opportunity to learn something new by listening to podcasts. There are numerous excellent podcasts on business, productivity, and personal development.
Or, with over 500,000 podcasts to choose from, you can take a break from it all and listen to a podcast that will both satisfy your curiosity and teach you something.
Ask Siri to remember your relationship with contacts
Find the phone number of your dentist. Or your physician. Alternatively, a plumber.
Even if you have them in your phone’s contact list, it may take some time to locate them.
iPhone users can teach Siri what their relationships are in order to make it easier to call or text people with whom they have a relationship. Simply tell Siri, “Bob Smith is my boss.” After that, you can simply say, “Siri, text my boss,” and you’ll be directed to that contact without having to search.
Instead of logging in through Safari, download the apps that your team uses
Do not fight the current unless you are a salmon. Install the appropriate apps on your phone if your organization uses tools like Trello, Slack, or Google Hangouts. If you have the app installed, you won’t have to log in through Safari every time you use it on your phone.
More importantly, you’ll receive notifications whenever something needs your attention, and you’ll be able to communicate or manage projects from anywhere with a few taps.
Keep track of your competitors using your phone
Finally, if you work in business, you can use your phone to keep track of your competitors.
You can monitor how competitors interact with customers, use social media influencers, and communicate with their brands using social media apps like Twitter and Facebook. You can also create a list of links to competitor websites or install apps to stay up to date on your competitors’ news and activities.
Keep track of them while you’re on the go to help inform your strategy when you return to your desk.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this article highlights several useful productivity tricks and tips for Phone users. From utilizing Phone Built-in shortcuts to keeping tabs on your competition, these tips can help increase efficiency and stay on top of important information. By implementing these tricks, Phone users can improve their productivity and better manage their daily tasks and responsibilities.
Now I would like to know how and what tips are you going to use from this article.
Or if you know any other tip then be sure to do a good deed by sharing it in the comment.
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