Use Phone Alarms to Guide You Through Your Day
By Tana M. Mann Easton, Lead Efficiency Engineer
Are you constantly running late for time commitments? Do you ever feel on your heels regarding your calendar? A habit that I use to eliminate worrying about my time commitments is setting phone alarms to guide me through my day.
At the end of my workday, before I shut down my computer, I look at my calendar and time commitments for the next day. For every instance when I need to make sure that I know the time in order to get to a commitment on schedule, I set an alarm on my phone. I have all notifications turned off on my email applications on my phone to minimize distraction. So if I’m at my laptop, I can hear my reminders that are attached to my Outlook calendar, but if I’m not on my laptop, I don’t hear those calendar reminders. So my phone alarms serve as my portable reminder system. Also, if I’m heavily focused on a task, no matter if I’m at my computer or anywhere else, I’m sure to have my phone nearby and will hear alarms that will let me know it’s time to stop that work and move onto the next time commitment.
I have a recurring alarm for when I need to wake up my son in order to help him get ready for school. I have a recurring alarm for the time we need to leave our house to get to school. If I have a virtual meeting, I have an alarm for 15 minutes before the meeting so I know I have time to power up my laptop and do light meeting prep. If I need to travel for a meeting, there’s an alarm for 5 minutes before I need to start driving. I have a recurring alarm for when I need to leave to pick my son up from school. Since my phone, unlike my laptop is with me pretty much wherever I go, its alarms make sure I get to the places I need to be throughout the day. And the rest of the day I don’t have to focus on the clock or worry that I’m behind for any of my time commitments. I can get lost in my work because I know my phone will pull me out of focus when I need to get ready for my commitments.
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Sincerely Yours,
Focus to Evolve Team