Time Management - 7 Ways to Work Less Hours Using a Smartphone

We all have some time available when we are traveling or waiting for our appointment to arrive. When you are a smartphone user you can put this time to very good use. Doing this gives me the ability to finish my daily planned tasks sooner. I see this as working less hours a day.


I am a iPhone user myself, but the below steps will also work if you have an Android or Windows Mobile smartphone. Below are the 7 important features I use on a daily basis:

1. Read emails

You can add almost any type of email accounts to your phones mail application. For some you can even get an instant message(push email) when a new mail arrives.

2. Up to date calendar

Syncing an online calendar with your phone makes it easier to add and remove entry's. Let's face it, typing on a mobile device got a lot easier, but it is still not quicker than typing text on a full size keyboard. In my business I use a system that allows me to add upcoming conferences/events straight into my Gmail calendar. That is why I sync using my Gmail account, for free.

3. Educational Podcasts

Always have your latest educational podcasts available to educate yourself on the go. Unfortunately I have not yet found a way to sync my podcasts directly over WiFi. This means I need to connect the smartphone to my PC or Mac to get the latest Podcasts I subscribed to.

4. Latest news by interests

Read the latest updates from sites you subscribed to using RSS. I use Google reader on my PC, as this gives me the ability to access add and delete subscriptions from any web browser. I have an iPhone app that allows me to view and sync my subscribed entry's.

5. Carry bookmarks

When I come across interesting pages I bookmark these on my PC or iPhone. Syncing these with an online service allows me to view my bookmarks wherever I am. To do this I use xmarks.

6. Cheap international calls

There are various company's offering VOIP services. Lots of them ask a small fee that let's you make unlimited calls to landlines in almost every country. I use Siphon on my iPhone. Using it over WiFi gives me much better sound quality then when I use it over 3G.

7. Access to social media services

These days social media services, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. are not only important for personal use, but also for business use. Most of them are free to install and work very well.

Using a smartphone can give you a lot more freedom to move around. When circumstances allow it you can put wasted time to good use. To find out more on how to work less hours visit my blog. You can find it at: http://www.robertobom.com/