Welcome to the First Column IT Tech Blog

HomeBlog
4 Ways to Get More Productivity Out of Your Smartphone

4 Ways to Get More Productivity Out of Your Smartphone

November 15, 2023

Smartphones are incredible productivity tools that anyone can take advantage of for personal computing or business purposes. Thanks to the large amount of mobile applications available, there are countless ways that people can reimagine various aspects of their lives for the better. To help you out, we’ve put together four of our favorite smartphone tips that you might find useful.

Organize Applications

First, you need to be strategic about setting your phone up for productivity. You can start with your applications, organizing them according to your workflow. Depending on your organization’s settings, you might be able to set up a work profile that keeps your apps separated from your personal apps, helping you keep things nice and tidy. You can additionally keep your apps stored in folders on the home screen, making them easier to find when you need them most. We also recommend that you uninstall or hide apps that are rarely used so they don’t make things more difficult for you.

Be Strategic with Notifications

Let’s face it; you don’t need notifications for every single app. In fact, we bet you can turn off 80 percent of your notifications and get by just fine. Better yet, you might even find yourself enjoying fewer distractions from all the notifications. We recommend you mute or disable notifications from all but only the most essential apps. This will help you stay focused.

Use Your Productivity Apps

Productivity applications can make all the difference in how you approach your daily tasks. Some businesses implement productivity apps to be used on specific platforms, while others will implement them to be used more broadly, or even on mobile devices exclusively. Be deliberate with how you implement these apps, and you can get all kinds of benefits from using them. For example, you can implement note taking, task management, or calendar apps to keep your work in order.

Leverage the Cloud

The cloud gives you and your employees the opportunity to work without the tethers of the traditional office environment. With this freedom to work anywhere, you can be productive whenever and wherever you want. Additionally, the cloud has all the solutions you can imagine readily available with an Internet connection. It’s a great way to free up computing resources for things that matter on your office network without sacrificing functionality.

First Column IT can help you build an infrastructure that takes mobile devices into account, thereby creating for you an opportunity to change your operations for the better. Get started by contacting our technicians at (571) 470-5594.

Previous Post
August 22, 2025
The IT Safety Lecture
The more IT you use, the more conscientious you have to be to ensure that an action you—or your staff—takes doesn’t unwittingly put your business at risk. Today, we’ll go through some ways for you to do your best to stay secure. Let’s get started.
August 21, 2025
Best Practices to Deal with Your Tech Troubles
Navigating the unpredictable waters of business technology can feel like that game you’d find in an old arcade: Whack-a-mole. One moment, everything's running smoothly, and the next, your critical systems are down, leaving you in a bind. This month, we wanted to talk about how your reaction to problems can go a long way toward determining the end result of your experiences. 
August 20, 2025
The End of Busywork: How to Streamline Your Business Operations
The day-to-day work of running a business can feel overwhelming. With overflowing inboxes, endless to-do lists, and scattered information, it's easy to get lost in the details. With the right tools, however, you can turn those tedious tasks into streamlined workflows, giving you and your team more time and clarity. This month, let's explore some of the technology that can help take the stress out of your daily grind.

Have a project in mind?

Start with our free consultation for VA, DC and MD companies. We will provide a detailed proposal and firm quote based on your specific IT support needs. All at a predictable monthly cost per seat.
Free Consultation - Sign Up Here