3 ways to Get the Most Out of Your Smartphone

If your Smartphone is much more than a way to call and text others and it has become your mobile office then you're well on your way to making the most of that device you pay monthly for.   Being able to do work while you are away from the home or office is one of the useful benefits of a Smartphone.  On most high-end Smartphones you can read, compose and sometimes update documents too.  But being able to use a device for more than just work makes it productive too.  Most people are familiar with how they can use a Smartphone to be entertained such as watching movies or videos and having your playlist downloaded to listen to your favorite songs means you have just one less device to carry around.


The most significant advancement the Smartphone has made from the traditional cell phone is the ability to stay connected with family and friends and anyone in your network no matter where you happen to be.  Smartphones are Internet enabled, meaning you can connect to the Internet just like you can on your computer.  People want more than a text message and Smartphone's let you do much more than text.  No matter where you travel these days staying in touch is as easy as turning your phone on.

The way I see it, the more you do with your Smartphone the greater value you receive from that monthly fee.  In addition, the ability to use one device for multiple tasks makes you more productive because it's always at hand, if not in your hand.  Here are five great ways your Smartphone can help you be more productive:

1. Think one record source! Whether you use an online or offline email, calendar or contacts system, it's accuracy is only as good as what you put into it so you must be sure to keep it up to date.  Having your information systems synced between your computer and Smartphone will help encourage you to do this because you'll quickly come to appreciate having this accurate information at hand and will be happy to leave the redundancy of storing information in multiple places behind.
2. Bookmark or set common website pages as icons.  Most of us have places on the Internet that we frequent (i.e. movie searches, school or class websites, sports team website, etc.).  So to help you get to those sites with ease be sure to have them marked on your phone for quick retrieval and depending upon the phone you're using this can be done in a few different ways.  An iPhone and some other touch phones allow you to create an icon for a web page which is visually appealing and can help you organize icons into meaningful groupings.  Other phones will let you bookmark pages you frequently visit on the phone's browser.
3. Pass the time with a favored pastime.  While I don't believe one should always be on their phone, I do believe in having all that we need on our phones.  So when you have downtime such as waiting in a doctor's office, in between your daughter's soccer games or riding the bus connect with a hobby via your phone.  There are wonderful apps for online books that you can access via the eReader or your smartphone.  The Kindle app is a great example.  So even though you may have left your eReader at home, your book is still at hand via the app on your phone.   Other ideas would be Scrabble, Sudoku, crosswords, chess, fantasy football, and many other entertaining apps and games can be accessed on your Smartphone.
4. Stay connected. All of the big social networking sites have apps that can be used on a Smartphones and allow you to post status updates, photos, share videos or follow friends or fans no matter where you are.
5. Account management.  Many banks and other organizations where you might have an account have apps to help you manage your account and personal information.  Need to pay a bill or two?  On a Smartphone you can safely log on to your account via your bank's app or directly through the bank website via your phone's browser.  Within minutes you can check off those bills as having been paid. The evolution of mobile technology has made mobile payments more secure. Newer smartphone apps facilitate direct connection and authentication of payers and recipients. Technology security companies like VeriSign are used to create trusted sites and apps accessible to mobile users.

The bottom line here is that our world is converging online and the our mobile devices, whether  Smartphone, tablet or laptop, are what we use to stay connected with our world.   So make the most of that device you're already paying monthly for.  Why use out-dated methods of managing your life when there are numerous productivity benefits to be gained from a device you are already using.