Make your phone work for you

Smartphones, social media and technology are often maligned as the enemy of productivity for Gen Z. There are good reasons for this. Smartphones are distracting – their siren call can pull you away from the things you should be doing. This technology has been designed to be more appealing and satisfying than the real world on a physiological level. Social media has been shown to increase mental health challenges like anxiety and depression for teens and adults alike.

But smartphones and technology also have a myriad of benefits. With a little insight, you can you make them work for you instead of against you. Being more aware of how you use your phone will make it a powerful productivity tool instead of a distraction.

The right apps

Seeking out apps which will help you to be more productive is a great first step to making your smartphone work for you. For example, calendar apps and time management apps can be a life saver for college students. You probably have a lot going on and tons of assignments, classes, homework, and meetings to keep track of. With the right app, you can organize all of those commitments in one place, set due dates, sort tasks by multiple categories, and set reminders to keep yourself on track. You can even share parts of your to-do list with others who are working on the same project to make communication and progress updates easier.

A search for time management apps in the App store will yield so many results it will make your head spin! A few of my favorites are:

MyHomeworkApp - This app gives you a calendar in which you can track your upcoming assignments, exams, projects and other important events. There is also a homework widget where you can sync your assignments and receive reminders for when they’re due. You can view your deliverables for each class separately or see them all on one central calendar. It also has a useful due date reminder feature which will highlight urgent tasks in red for you. The free version has ads in it, but it’s also available ad-free for $4.99 a year.

Trello – This app isn’t calendar-based, but it makes up for that with a ton of flexibility. You can organize any projects or classes you are working on through boards which you can then customize and share with others. It’s ridiculously easy to use with task creation and edits taking only seconds. It’s free and available on Apple Watch as well as your phone.

Remember the Milk – This app can sync with all your devices and integrate with your calendar, emails, Twitter and other time management tools. Tasks can be put into lists based on project or class, assigned priorities and deadlines and tagged into groups of your choosing. It’s easy to add, edit and share any task on your list with others. It also has a lot of powerful sorting features to help you make sense of your busy schedule. There are both free and paid versions.

2Do – This app uses color coding and lets you categorize tasks by priority and subject. It’s great for students who process information best visually. You can get a free 20 day trial of the app, but it gets a little pricey after the trial ends.

The right time

Two of the unsung heroes of smartphone productivity apps are the Clock app and the Reminders app. With timers, alarms, and a stopwatch in addition to the actual clock, your clock app can get you up in the morning, remind you to leave for class on time and keep you on schedule through the day. When you are busy with a ton of different responsibilities you don’t need the added stress of having to worry about being late. Let your smartphone take that burden off your shoulders so you can focus on remembering more important things.

It can also keep you focused while you are studying. When completing an entire assignment, writing a whole paper or working though a problem set feels so overwhelming that you can’t get yourself to start, try setting a timer for 20-30 minutes and promising yourself to work on that difficult task until the timer goes off. No more procrastinating, no more thinking about what you are going to do next, no more looking at your phone…not until that timer goes off. You can get a lot done in 20-30 minutes when you have the support you need to help you focus.

The Reminders app improves productivity in much the same way as alarms do only in a longer term way. You can’t set an alarm to remind you to go to your meeting with your professor three days from now, but you can set a reminder which will give you a ping when it is time to get to that meeting. Rather than spending valuable mental energy keeping track of where you need to be and when, let reminders help you out.

The right notifications

When you don’t have the willpower to ignore the notifications on your phone, but you really need to concentrate on what you are doing until it is done, try Focus mode on your Android or Apple device. You can allow or silence notifications and calls from people or apps for any period of time you specify. Look under Settings to turn focus mode on and customize it to your needs. Eliminating the temptation to check your phone while you get some work done and minimizing the distractions which your phone creates can increase your productivity significantly.

Your phone is a powerful and influential force in your life. Harness its power as a productivity tool instead of allowing it to drive you to distraction!