Mobile technology (such as the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 and Samsung Galaxy S5) gives us the ability to connect to the global dataverse of people, places, and things – anytime, anywhere. However, the super-human productivity I imagined often gets tangled in wasteful hours of web browsing, insignificant e-mail and social media minutiae.
Disconnecting from the web wasn’t a practical idea. Internet access is essential to my job as a marketer. So I decided to devote an afternoon at work to thinking about how I could better manage my time (seems ironic, but it’s not).
During my research I stumbled across RescueTime. This app helps you to 1) track the websites you spend time on, 2) measure how long you spend there, and 3) set goals using actionable data generated via detailed reports. RescueTime works on the four most popular operating systems (Mac, PC, Android, and Linux) and offers a “lite” version that is free forever.
When it comes to using technology to track-measure-take action, there are three things you should consider. First, it takes hard work and discipline, and there is no shortcut to reaching your goals. Second, data security breaches are becoming bigger and more frequent. This is a potential deal breaker because the digital footprint you leave behind when exchanging your personal information for free mobile applications could potentially expose you to greater risks of data breaches, identity fraud, and so on.
Lastly, the technology community at large hasn’t figured out a way to make their smart devices “talk” to each other. When my vehicle diagnostic device can tell my calendar to schedule a maintenance visit at the dealership during my least productive work hours, we’ll really see connected technology take off.
Want more? Here are five of my favorite productivity apps. Enjoy!
AEGILITY 