Sounds a little redundant, does it not? Hear me out first; I’m talking about making the most of your phone in moments of madness. I’m talking about when you’re in a situation where you’re forced to wait, but gasp, don’t have wifi or any service. Back to the prehistoric age we go. Whether you’re waiting in line, on a plane, or at the cottage awake before everyone else, you can actually be on your phone and still be productive. Believe it or not, social media is not the only way to waste time. Mind blowing, I know, I know.

Here are a few of my favourite phone productivity hacks:

1. Start with your photos 

Almost everyone I know has went to snap a photo only to receive the dreaded warning that no, they do not have sufficient space to do so. And of course deleting one photo doesn’t equal getting to take one (because that would be all too easy). Too often have I seen (or participated) in a scenario where a bunch of people are posing impatiently for the photo while the person who owns the phone is frantically attempting to immediately delete as much as they can to free up space. Deleting irrelevant photos while you’re waiting is a great way to avoid this.

2. Since you’re already in your photos…

Why not organize them too? Due to the mentioned above problem, I actually traded up to get a phone with more space. Mo’ space, mo’ problems. Now I have so many photos (8,458 to be exact) that when I’m looking for something, it’s almost as long a process to find it as the issue above. My solution? Folders. I have a multitude of folders that range from client photos, pictures of my dog (obviously the largest of the folders), quotes, Pinterest pics, and even old photos that are #throwbackthursday worthy.

3. To do lists

My mind is always running a mile a minute and I know it can’t be trusted to remember every detail that passes through. In moments of waiting, I use notes or Evernote to jot down to do lists. If you have a favourite app for lists, I want to hear about it!

4. Turn off your phone

If you’re anything like me, you’re constantly connected. My phone is my alarm, my clock, my lifeline really. When battery gets dangerously low, to charge we go. I never, ever let it die, which is where I’m wrong. It needs to be shut down every once and a while, not solely for my sanity but for the good of your phone. Shutting it down will help preserve the battery, free up more space, allow it to function faster, and a bunch of other great tech stuff that I don’t understand. The key? Close ALL apps before shutting it down. This was a biggie for me. Since I go so long without turning my phone off, I would have 20+ apps open and running in the background, and wondering why the heck my phone was so slow. If you don’t close these before shutting your phone off, they will all reopen once you turn it back on.

5. Blog or write

I’m currently writing this while on my iPhone on a plane and to be honest, it’s when I write best. When I don’t have service, I don’t have distractions or emails coming in or social media notifications that obviously have to be checked immediately; I can actually focus. In a world where ADD is rising and our attention spans are lowering, being able to completely focus on the task at hand is like seeing a unicorn. Some tasks are alright to manage while multitasking; writing is not one of them. When the service gets going, get pen to paper. Or fingers to screen?

What are your favourite phone productivity hacks? Have you tried any of these?