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 1, 2025
Tip of the Week: Minimize All
How often do you find yourself overwhelmed by the sheer amount of clutter on your desktop? You might dig through a pile of applications, windows, files, and so much more, and it can be difficult to make sense of it all and be productive. Thankfully, there is a rather simple tool to help you clean up your desktop and focus on one window at a time.
July 30, 2025
Why Double and Triple-Extortion Are So Scary
Ransomware is bad, and you can’t take any chances with it if you want to keep your business safe. Understand that it might seem like we’re exaggerating, but we’re not; ransomware really is as bad as it comes, and when you’re faced with double or even triple extortion, you’ll be put in a tough spot that no business owner wants to find themselves in. Today, we want to cover what these terms are and why they’re so bad.
July 28, 2025
What Is Legacy Technology Costing Your Business?
It is certainly tempting to squeeze every last drop of life out of existing equipment. After all, why spend money on new computers or servers if the old ones still technically work? You may view this as frugal, but ironically not spending on the updated IT your business needs can lead to leaving significant revenue on the table. The truth is, holding onto outdated hardware can silently, yet significantly, bleed your business dry.

Have a project in mind?

Start with our free consultation. 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