Want more time for your business? Take control of your device usage

If your phone or device has taken over your life and feels like a permanent extension of your arm, it might be time to take back control, writes time management expert and founder of Time Stylers, Kate Christie.

Where’s your phone? Are you on it right now? I bet it’s within arm’s reach.

Your phone is an essential business tool which can significantly reduce the amount of time many tasks would otherwise take. However, it’s also an instrument of evil with the potential rob you of hours of time.

The last time I looked up the stats:

Smartphone users check their device 85 times a day.
Smartphone users spend around 30 per cent of their time each week on emails.
80 per cent of users check their emails prior to starting the work day.
50 per cent of users check their emails while on holiday.

We are literally addicted to our phones

If they are not in our hands or within arm’s reach, we feel at a loss. Think about the last time you left the house without your mobile – it was debilitating.

The constant compulsion to check your device coupled with using your phone as a time-killer (think social media apps, games, news) can severely impact your ability to use all of your time well. Moreover, the proliferation of portable devices affords you constant exposure to this stream of information which, unchecked, allows for incessant interruptions, decreased productivity and loss of focus.

In addition, when you start your day on your device and then continue to glance and review emails and text messages regularly throughout the day, you are driving a reactive rather than a proactive mindset. None of those messages or emails are things on your to-do list. Every single one of those emails or messages are someone else getting something off their to-do list.

What can you do?

Tips to take control of your device usage

Step 1: Get the data

How much time do you actually spend on your device every day? Don’t just estimate the amount of time – get the hard data (there are apps that give you this data direct to your phone … oh, the irony).

Step 2: Identify your habits

Think about your personal device habits – is the majority of your device usage adding value to your business, or is it just a dopamine hit?

Step 3: Set boundaries

If you want to regain significant control of your time, you need to instil some boundaries around your device usage.

For example:

Put your phone in another room
Schedule device-free time
Turn your notifications off
Remove email from your phone
Remove social media apps from your phone

Time hacks for phone calls

Think about just using your phone just as a phone. Oh, the horror!

But again, be careful. Unlike emails, phone calls require real-time, one-on-one interaction with another person and so can suck up a lot of time unless managed consciously. Try these simple time hacks:

Where possible, turn your phone off and then return calls during a call/device batch of time.
If you absolutely need to leave your phone on and take incoming calls, try to minimise the amount of time you are on each call by taking control of the conversation.
If you are pushed for time, don’t ask: ‘Hi, how are you?’. Instead, try: ‘It’s good to hear from you. How can I help you?’
When you take or make a call, take control of the conversation by framing the amount of time you have available: ‘Hi Cec, it’s Kate – I have ten minutes before my next meeting and I wanted to …’
In all cases when you are talking with a caller, if their request, issue or question is a rambling laundry list, try to politely interrupt with something like this: ‘I’m just walking into a meeting and my mind is focused on that. Do you mind sending me a brief email letting me know exactly how I can help and I will come back to you this afternoon?’

Embrace text

Text messaging is a terrific mode of communication. Texts force succinct and straight-to-the-point communication; they can be read and responded to in places where you might not necessarily be able to make or take a call, or read and respond to an email; and texts speed up your interactions and communications.

Gain even more control of your time by recording a smart voicemail which directs your callers to communicate with you via text. For example, your voice mail could be: ‘Hi, you have reached Kate. I am sorry I missed your call. Please send me a text message letting me know exactly how I can help you and I will get back to you today either by phone, text or email.’

The bottom line – if your device has taken over your life and feels like a permanent extension to your arm, it might be time to take back control.

This article originally appeared on Flying Solo, read the original here.

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