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5 Technology Life Hacks for the Busy Mom
1. Turn off App notifications
Studies in regards to phone usage say we check our phones 110 times per day! What else do we do 110 times per day? Every time that little signal chimes when we have an email, Facebook notification, or text, most of us are guilty of stopping what we are doing to check it. By turning the notifications off, you can complete a project without getting distracted by the "noise". Try starting with your email and Facebook notifications. You are now in control of when you check your messages and responding to them on your time. Trust me, try it for a day. You will be amazed.
2. Part 2 to #1 is set aside time to address both business and personal email.
The average number of business emails sent and received in a typical workday is 125! According to the McKinsey Global Institute, the average American spends 13 hours per week or 28% of the work week dictating, reading, deleting, sorting, and sending emails. Set aside time in the day to address your inbox. Set aside business and personal time separately. Accept you will never win the "I'm caught up on my email" game.
3. Prevent unimportant emails from clogging up your phone inbox
Doesn't everyone have a junk email inbox?!? I suggest multiple email addresses and only have the necessary ones directed to your phone. A personal address, a business address, shopping (and check when you have time) address, and a junk email inbox (you never check). And for pete's sake, spend a few minutes to unsubscribe from marketing emails you are sure not to need. This takes a little bit of time, but will save you hours!
4. Use the Do Not Disturb function on your phone while you are working on a task
I love this function on an Iphone. Tell me you haven't been annoyed by a text you received while you were trying to compose an email and you were side tracked. You can Do Not Disturb your phone for specific times during the day. You can even schedule your Do Not Disturb time! Are you concerned you won't receive an emergency phone call? If a person calls more than 2 times in 3 minutes, it will allow it to pass through. You can also allow calls from certain numbers when you are in this mode.
5. Create an email address or 2 for your kids.
This isn't really a life hack for you, but more for the sake of your kids. Email addresses are being snagged up left and right. Create an address and link it to your own. If you send the relay the new email addresses out to family, you may receive some cute little notes from family your kids can view when they get older. For example, my daughter's aunt sent her the sweetest note after they spent the day together when she was 1. It was the sweetest and I know my little one will get all giddy reading it someday.
If you have any of your own technology life hacks, feel free to list in the comment below.
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