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With new apps that carry out separate functions, our smartphones have become indispensable and even a part of us. We have become dependent on them for both social and non-social activities.
For some of us, it is becoming an addiction that is eating into our productive time. According to a 2017 report by analytics firm Flurry, we spend five hours per day on these IQ-shrinking devices. This doesn’t make them bad in themselves but we, the users, have to know how to use them effectively without being adversely affected.
Herein are 3 tips on how to get the most out of your phone and still remain productive.
Have a daily limit
We recognise that time allotted or spent on our smartphones is time we could turn to productive use instead. This situation is aided by the many social media platforms which hold our interests.
One way to take your time back, to be more productive, is to set a daily time limit for smartphone usage.
Set strict limitations. Disable notifications. Create reminders for your chores and also for when it is okay to spend time on your phone. This will, on the long run, heal you of that constant urge to be on your phone.
Please do not switch off email notifications. That would be counter-productive.
Have a smart note-taking system.
Many of us do that thing where we tell ourselves we will remember details or a particular task. Yes, the human brain is like a computer but, unlike a computer, you cannot always access the datat on it at the snap of a finger. In addition to this, as an entrepreneur, you usually have al ot of tasks to do and depending on just your brain as a reminder is a recipe for disaster.
Let your smartphone come to your aid. There are apps like Evernote, Wunderlist, and a host of others which are daily planners. They can also act as mobile diaries where you can unload your thoughts and plans; a sort of unburdening. You can create folders that touch on different aspects of your life. Folders such as:
- Diary
- Career
- Books
- Goals
- Self-Improvement
- Health
- Plans
- Next course of action
- Check-in
- Ideas
Any time you have an insight, deadline or task, file it away in the relevant tab to act on later. Add a reminder to each task you lay out so you can come back to it.
Take advantage of your reminders.
According to Dan Dowling, founder of MillennialSuccess.io, smartphones, especially the apps, are colossal distractions to most people. He argues that when you start limiting your phone use in general and start using the reminders app, your phone alerts you to focus on what you really need to be doing. Which turns your phone into a focus aid.
Just activate Siri or your Google Assistant, and to dictate whatever you want to be reminded of. They would do the rest. Without fail because, unlike your brain, there is no clutter or distraction.
Cultivate this habit until it becomes second nature.
