Tips for mobile productivity: Ways to use your mobile LESS

Abridged version

Lately, I have formalized in writing how my phone is taking away from my time I used to save for daydreaming, sketching, talking with people, and moments of relaxation. Not that I want to give it up, but Ive decided I wanted the option of connectivity, rather then the requirement. Now that I have access to data all the time, I really should think strategically on how it adds value to my life vs the time is uses – where technology becomes a cost.

Here are a few things I am going to try out on a prelim basis.

1. Buy a watch- stop using my phone as my watch, which temps me for other time wasting apps.
2. Only reply to tweets, facebook, and email posts from computers. If they were that important, they will be just as important when I get back from my walk.
3. Delete extra apps that I only use when I am bored.
4. Stop using LBS- I know those points are worthless, so why invest my time.
5. Unsubscribe from all my lists, and unlike random companies: They are filling up my feeds and time. I used to really enjoy searching for things and exploring. SEO and feeds and subscriptions have turned the things I used to enjoy into spam.
6. Use SMS strategically, but use much much less. Disruptions are disruptions
7. Schedule time for social media- it should not have rank over the rest of my life
8. What would Tim Ferris do?
9. Reconsider this in 1 month.

Patrick Donnelly, 6/22

Note: this is a personal list, and obviously many of these guidelines are contextual or preferential.

Giving different

When someone asks you for help, I think everyone wants to give.  Maybe they don’t want to give money, but usually if multiple options are available, some value can be contributed for everyone time willing.   Say you dont give someone money, but you build a mechanism to enable 2 people to give them money.  Shouldn’t the goal of fundraising be to raise the wealth (value) and emotional well being of all parties by some increment.  Lets rethink how things of value can be donated over what intervals-  time, money, connections, humanity.

Social media peeves

Social media is as much about listening as talking.

I meet so many people that purely talk for the sake of volume, and ignore the learning and actual sharing aspects of social media. If you tweet and post the same update 8 times a day, or just pass on information all the time, whats the point. What are you getting out of it?

Publish and interact with what you love, and use it to grow personally. If you are fake, we’ll all know it.

-Patrick

Creating great work.

QR concept: London Tube updates

If any of my London QR friends have contacts for this project, I think it could be useful – let me know.

So, at Hammersmith, I saw this non- functional code. I figured, why not just make it mobile ?  The interesting thing is that they already have a WAP site that would support this. They just need an easy way to access it. QR = Tada !

Note: As Tim pointed out, some places in the underground wont have wifi, but, I figure that this could still be beneficial in more rural areas or zones 2-4.

before

proposed - could use a little work, but the concepts solid.

Design Pong: Wonderemporium

Last night I got to participate in my first head on head design battle.  Fun stuff.  My teammate Abe and I rocked the party with some amazing collaborative art creation.

Have you every had half an hour to design a piece infront of a live audience. 3 times in a row.  I have.

Using twitter for events

I am confused when I go to an event, and people are just re tweeting what the speaker says.  Isnt the point of twitter at an event to share a subconversation with the attendees.  But I guess this depends on if people are engaged and using twitter?