Make Your Phone a Phone

There are times when I really want all my apps on my phone. When I’m between airports, or otherwise on the road, for example. But for day to day working, I have taken the bold step of turning my phone into a phone.

What do I mean? Primarily, I have stripped it back to being a communication tool. Voice, yes. And WhatsApp, and SMS of course. But I have disabled email, plus a number of other apps which had been gathering dust.

This article is about trying to better balance tasks between your phone, your tablet and your laptop. Why have all three if you run the same apps on each one? To get the best out of your tech spend, you need to specialise.

My phone is also a wallet. I kept all the payment and bank apps. They’re fantastically useful if you find yourself out and about without a wallet, with no intention of buying something. But then that once-a-week bargain jumps out at you…

I have stripped off all the reading apps, the social apps, and anything else I can do without. They’re all working perfectly fine on the tablet, with its large screen and handy physical keyboard. Email lives on the tablet and the laptop. No more tapping out an error-strewn and angry missive from the train for me. I will take my time, ponder, and respond at my leisure. If it’s really urgent, they will phone me up.

I kept all the music apps, and Audible, of course. My phone doubles as a Walkman, as well as a wallet. But everything else is gone. And I feel pretty calm about it. In fact, I anticipate fewer sleepless nights, and fewer interruptions when I am at home in the evening. And at the weekend for that matter.

Liberate yourself. Figure out what your phone is best at, and delete the rest. If you don’t have a tablet this will be a little harder but really, who doesn’t have a tablet now?

If I had to lose one of the three devices, there would be no hesitation in binning the laptop.