Manage Your Life Better With Your Smart Phone
[image error]Remember a time when the concept of a shiny rectangle of light that could give you directions, answer questions, play music and deliver calls — all by using your voice or a slight of the hand to control it — was a magical thing of the future? Well, the future is now.
Smart phones are capable of so much these days, and my guess is that we’re only taking advantage of 50% of their capabilities.
Here are some ideas on how to better manage your life — the best apps, reminders, fitness pals, and “to do” lists — and turn your smart phone into an organizational focal point.
Use Existing Tools
Don’t neglect the built-in tools and settings that already come with your phone or tablet. For example, make use of settings that preserve your battery (turn down your screen’s brightness) or connect to your home’s wifi automatically (they don’t have to be mutually exclusive! Check out: Carat or One Touch Battery Saver for Andriod or Battery Doctor Pro for iPhone). And are you accessing your calendar from your smart phone yet? If you’re a bit of a luddite, start there. As reported in The New York Times, Matt Tatham, a spokesman for market research firm Experian Simmons, says “[Only] 22 percent of online adults maintain a calendar on their cellphone or their tablet.” If you didn’t get the (mimeographed and faxed memo): paper is out. Electronic (everywhere) is in.
Store Your Stuff
Speaking of everywhere, Dropbox or similar cloud media servivces is pretty much a necessity for anyone using multiple computers or sharing information and files with others. Dropbox accepts any kind of file and is universal — it works with Mac, Windows, Linux, iPad, iPhone, Android and Blackberry, so anything you create at home can be called up anywhere you’ve installed Dropbox, including your smartphone. Similar services include GoogleDrive and SugarSync.
Got too many passwords and can’t keep it all straight? Open a virtual filing cabinet with LastPass. It’s safe and secure and, best of all, free.
Keep Things Straight
Evernote is a free notebook for all the stuff you want to capture like your ideas. Best of all, it’s tagable and searchable, and if you take a picture of a To Do list you scratched onto a scrap of paper or napkin, it can search the words on the napkin. It’s also handy for music, pictures, text, screen shots, spreadsheets, links, etc.
If your ears perked up at “to do list” – Reqall is a ‘To Do’ list on steroids, free for Android users. It turns your smartphone into your own personal secretary. You can talk to it, email it, text it what you have to do but better still, Reqall is smart. It reminds you what you need to do that day, and even figures out if you happen to be the in the right neighborhood to get your errands done. It’ll ping you to pick up your dry cleaning on your way home from yoga, for example.
Catch is another free app for iPhone or Android that helps you keep track of stuff, particularly when doing research or shopping for items. You can take photos, jot down prices and record notes. There’s even a “wheel” you can spin to select your action item (a mic to record voice, a “to do”button, a “reminder” function, etc).
Get Things Done
Alarmed is best for waking you up, and not because your current alarm isn’t sufficient. It’s because it’s not as cool: want to wake up to your iTunes playlist instead of an annoying squawk? Check. Want the music to play louder and louder each time so you can’t avoid it? Done. Want to set your snooze for the kind of day it is — by the minute, or by the hour — for free? You got it!
If you have a goal in mind, MindMeister helps you map the steps you need to take. It’s good for organizing large, long-term projects.
30/30 is a free app best for managing your time. Have a To Do list a mile long, but want to make sure you’re not spending too much time on any one thing? Create your list of action items, put them in order of priority, and then assign a set amount of time to each — 30/30 will keep track for you by alerting you when time is up for each task. You can adjust it by 10 minutes in either direction with a quick tap.
Unstuck for the iPad is for when you’re blocked, don’t know what to do in a sticky situation, or feel overwhelmed. Unstuck can take you through a series of questions, asking what’s important, how the decision will affect you and others, how you want to prioritize, and more. It provides a plan and helps you determine alternatives to the plan. Consider it the coach, counselor, friend or advisor you need when ‘stuck’ is how you feel.
Stay Fit & Healthy
MyFitnessPal and LoseIt are just two apps that help you track your meals and exercise, with an easy-to-use interface and graphs to show your progress and help keep you motivated. Runkeeper and Couchto5K are inspirational and useful tools to start or keep up a running regimin.
The OurGroceries app is helpful if you share a grocery list with a partner. Both people download the app and enter the same email address on the setup screen to access one joint account, to make shared shopping lists. Anyone can make a list or add an item. You can sort your grocery list by item type — meat, dairy, etc. — and you can title each grocery list. Healthy meal planning is a breeze when two or more share shopping responsibilities.
