For so many working parents in this world of technology, the office isn’t just in your house or a building. It’s wherever you happen to have a cell connection–the subway, your kid’s lacrosse game, the coffee shop, movie theater. (But just during the previews, right?) And while technology has made working from a virtual office much easier, as you probably know, it presents some challenges too:
Raise your hand if you’ve ever checked email at the dinner table.
(Yep, us too.)
So along with our home office organization and productivity tips, we’re rounding out our Working Parents Productivity Guide with helpful ways to make mobile devices maximize your time, not eat it up.
We are so happy that Cool Mom Tech is partnering with Motorola, makers of the new Motorola Elite Sliver Bluetooth Headset, this month to provide our favorite tips to help make the lives easier for all of us busy working parents.
1. Take the time to get your phone organized
First off, set up your phone the way it best works for you. Turn off alerts you don’t need, add a special ring for your sitter, and delete the apps you don’t use. Plus, find a system to organize the apps you do use–say, daily apps up front, productivity apps next, and those tempting games far in the back. The easier you can find your apps, the quicker you can use them.
2. Make your phone your productivity hub
You can bet we rely heavily on our smart phones to help us get more done in less time, and thankfully there are a slew of apps and services to help make that happen. A few favorites:
-Don’t forget Google Calendar as a really simple source for scheduling appointments and syncing calendars between phones and PCs.
–Dropbox is taking mobile users by storm, and for good reason–it’s great to have the documents you need and not have to be tethered to your PC.
-These days, you can scan and share photos and documents with a document scanner app like this highly rated one for Android.
-Don’t forget your smartphone browser which can allow you to log onto sites like hellofax.com so you can scan and sign documents on the go, all with a couple of taps.
3. Techcessories: Don’t leave home without them
Or better yet, minimize your tech accessories entirely with products that do double duty. A lot of our readers have been excited to learn that Motorola’s Elite Sliver Bluetooth Headset is not only awesome for all kinds of reasons, but it comes with a portable carrying case that actually holds a charge so you’re unlikely to find your headset out of juice. Up to 15 hours of talk time? Thanks Motorola–on behalf of Bluetooth-reliant parents everywhere.
4. Make the effort to take business calls when you’re not on parenting duty
We know this isn’t always possible. (We know, we know!) But you can’t parent too well when you’re talking taxes, and you can’t conquer that conference call with background noise that sounds awfully like a kid yelling for a snack.
If you have no choice (we know, we know!) another good thing about the Elite Sliver is that the CrystalTalk technology uses two microphones to cancel out background noise. Which means the person on the other end will actually hear you and not Dora. Besides, the HD Audio Plus makes you sound so clear that you won’t have anyone asking the dreaded “Are you on a Bluetooth?” question. Should you need to pretend you’re actually at an office.
We talk about setting technology limits for our kids but the same goes for ourselves. While it seems obvious, it’s actually the one we all seem to have the most issues with.
The downside to having a mobile office is that it’s easy to get sucked into working way longer than you should; so try creating business hours for yourself, and then turning off your phone (or at least the ringer) when it’s family time or me-time. Besides, there’s nothing like a break from work to allow you to come back to it refreshed. And we know your kids will appreciate your full attention over mac n cheese at night–the uh, homemade organic kind, of course.
6. Remember, you control your phone, not the other way around
Some of the best advice we ever got is to try and think of your smart phone as a device to allow you to work on your own terms and get out when you can; not a device that keeps you accessible to anyone and everyone 24/7.
If you can reset your mind (and retrain your colleagues) to see things this way, you’ll be amazed how quickly you feel less stressed from day to day. It works for us, promise.
To learn more about our partner the Motorola Elite Sliver, you can like Motorola on Facebook and follow @Motorola on Twitter plus see this amazing headset in action on their YouTube channel.
My husband has been nagging me to get a bluetooth so I don’t talk and drive so I guess the safety feature of it being a hands-free device is my favorite, but also the noise-cancelling since I do tend to take a lot of calls in the car.
I check email too often! I like the 15 hours of talk time on the motorola elite silver.
Biggest Pitfall – doing “one more thing” online before starting my next task
Most useful feature – crystaltalk to get rid of all that toddler background noise….
I get distracted by the urgent instead of focusing on the planned important tasks. Voice-activated texting seems like a perfect way to stay in touch SAFELY!
biggest pitfall- letting all the pop up notifications and emails distract me into abandoning one task and then starting another.
The speech to text on the Motorola Elite Silver…must try!!!
My biggest productivity pitfall is over-listing. I feel like if I get organized and write everything down I will get more done. Turns out I just end up writing lists and never really accomplishing anything.
The feature of the Motorola Elite Sliver that seems the most useful has to be the case that holds a charge. One of the biggest reasons I don’t use a bluetooth now is because I was always getting stuck in the car with an uncharged device.
My biggest productivity pitfall is probably diving right into something like a project before taking the time to properly organize it – if I take the time to plan and organize on the front end the better everything goes!
And the best feature of the Motorola Elite Silver? That’s easy – the Crystal Talk feature. That way my colleagues will hear less of my kids in the background!
My biggest productivity pitfall is trying to multitask too much — everything always ends up taking longer than it should since I can’t/don’t focus. Love that the case for the headset is also a charger! My Plantronics Bluetooth headset has not only a device-specific charger (instead of an easy universal micro-USB port) but also no case…
My biggest productivity pitfall is OVER-thinking things. I get so caught up in it all, that I get nothing done!
I love the speak-to-text feature of the headset.
Distractions on the internet. I start doing one things and then I see something online that I wanted to do/see and I get distracted by that.
I love the noise cancelling feature. Whenever I am on the phone, it seems that my kids need attention right then. And to 4 yrs old, 5 minutes on the phone is forever, which makes the phone longer because you trying to hear your call and not your child whining that you are taking too long.
Biggest productivity pitfall is getting caught up in minutia! Fonts and formats have to be perfect and I waste time redoing even others’ work. I posted a sign that says “done is better than perfect” it’s starting to help! Best Motorola product – the noise canceling Elite Silver!
Biggest productivity pitfall HAS to be email. Would love to have the Motorola headset for its talk to text capability!
My biggest productivity pitfall has to be getting sucked into checking just one more thing on my phone (let’s see, did I miss any calls? Is there a voicemail? Maybe I got a text. I should take a look at my email, etc.).
I don’t use a bluetooth because my husband never hears me clearly on them and gets seriously annoyed. I do love the HD Audio Plus feature that will keep both my husband and I from getting frustrated when we can’t hear eachother clearly on a bluetooth!
Pitfall has to be making the mistake of setting the buzzer to go off every time an email comes in. I can’t help but check it right then and there and I would loose my train of thought ever time I heard it. I have since turned it off!
Biggest productivity pitfall: prioritizing. I will try to knock off a bunch of little tasks just to clear some space on my to-do list, then end up being under the gun on more important items.
The talk-to-text feature is awesome!
Biggest productivity pitfall? For certain,going on-line for one thing invariably leads to vast stretches of lost time as I begin to bop around the electronic wonderland that is the internet.
As for the Motorola Elite Silver, MyMotoSpeak app (as well as any voice controls) will keep me from violating the new Pennsylvania State laws against texting and driving.
My biggest pitfall is checking Twitter and Pinterest! I’ve become pretty addicted to both of them. I’m always afraid I’m going to miss something big!
My biggest productivity pitfall is checking work email at home and home email at work. Always seem to be getting bogged down in one when I should be doing the other.
Love the “talk-to-text” feature – cool!!
Biggest productivity pitfall: Allowing myself a few minutes to go to “fun” websites and then losing track of time.
The charging case is definitely the coolest feature.
My pitfall? Habitually checking my phone too often instead of designated times. Such a time waster!
Biggest productivity pitfall is getting distracted is not having my filing caught up and having to take many minutes to find what I need instead of being able to put my hands on it immediately. I think the best feature would be the MyMotoSpeak app.
My biggest pitfall is sometimes not saying “no” even though I know I should. I will take on too much. It is only when I am so stressed out or dropping the ball when I will back off.
Biggest pitfall is starting too many projects without completing any.
I like the charging case
I am definitely an over-multi-tasker. I need to stop trying to do so many things at once and focus on one thing at a time! As for the Motorola Silver Elite, I love that you can charge it in its carrying case! That is one reason I never use a headset–it never has a charge!
Biggest productivity downfall at work? Chatting with colleagues and not being able to gracefully exit from them.
Best thing about the Silver Elite? Crystal Talk feature that will abate my fears that I sound like the Charlie Brown teacher.
My biggest pitfall is the internet. Helpful but also a big distraction. I really love that the motorola has clear talk feature. I also want one so that I can talk on the phone while driving.
Email is my biggest productivity pitfall And the most useful sliver feature, for me, would be hands free texting.
Productivity pitfall? The internet and my new iPad!
Best feature of the bluetooth? Looks like it would actually fit my ear!
My biggest pitfall is trying to do too many things at once. Instead, i should be starting something, finishing it, and moving on…
I LOVE the Elite case that holds a charge! So often I go to use my hands free and it needs to be charged!
I have a huge problem with too many emails in the inbox. I have several projects lined up and I’ve got to learn to designate priorities and time to go through all of them efficiently.
The feature that intrigues me most about the Motorola Elite would be the 15 hours of talk time. Now that’s a product that works the same hours I do!
Checking my email is one of my pitfalls. And I think the one tap paring is an awesome feature of the Motorola elite silver.
i can’t find time to talk on the phone. by the time i get home and spend a little time with my baby girl i’m so tired all i want to do is relax, not catch up on phone calls. and i use public transit to get to/from work. i will not make calls on the bus (so rude).
lately i’ve been using the 5 minutes i take to wash up after work and before playing with the baby to make speed calls. “hello” “goodbye”
GAH!
I’m so drooling over the bag in this giveaway! My biggest productivity pitfall is my messy desk. It’s distracting and makes me feel overwhelmed, but I just can’t seem to figure out how to keep it straight.
I’d really like to try the talk to text feature on the Motorola Elite Silver. Very hand for the car.
My biggest pitfall is clutter and best feature is the case that holds a charge.
Biggest productivity problem? Any one of those things that can get done “real quick” or will “just take a second”. Famous last words. Best feature? Crystaltalk. No more Dora in the background? WIN!
Biggest pitfall: there’s too many things to do… at times, “multi-tasking” ends up with me feeling like I haven’t accomplished much except for getting myself exhausted.
I love how you can charge on the go! That’s definitely a time saver!
My biggest pitfall– not being able to focus on any one thing for too long.
love that the Motorola Elite holds a charge with the case!
My biggest productivity pitfall is trying to do too many things at once and accomplishing nothing. I’m a great planner but not good on follow through! This hands free Motorola Elite Silver would be awesome!
I am constantly jumping online to check email or respond to a Facebook message…only to find myself on Pinterest 45 minutes later. I must learn to walk away from the laptop!
I love that the Motorola Silver Elite’s case holds a charge – mine is forever dying in the car and then I forget to bring it inside to charge it.
Pitfalls? Plenty… though the biggest is probably getting distracted by the million tasks on my list and not attacking the list methodically. I love the CrystalTalk technology, which would drown out all of the “non-office” sounds while I’m working in my car at lacrosse practice…
My biggest pitfall is my lack of organization, and trying to do too many things at one time. The extended range on the Motorola Elite Sliver is great!
Not finishing what I start before moving on to something else is my biggest pitfall. I get distracted so easily! The charging case sounds awesome – at least I know I’ll always have a charge when I’m hopping from one thing to another..
My biggest productivity pitfall is not knowing when to stop. I’ll get started on one thing, and seeing the 10 other things nearby that need doing always trips me up. The coolest feature of the Motorola is the noise cancelling.
Another big pitfall of mine misjudging the time something will take. I usually underestimate by quite a bit! It’s best to overestimate and be prepared for setbacks and mistakes, interruptions and a cup of coffee.
I think the most useful feature of the bluetooth will be the roaming range… I used hands free before and if I’m moving about the house it’s really not handsfree if you have to carry it around.
My biggest pitfall is having the tv on for “background” noise. I really love the idea of a device with a charging case!
My biggest pitfall is always being “on”… So, we’ve implemented no electronics at dinner this week. so far so good!
And I really need that Motorola Elite Silver because I don’t have a bluetooth. And because it is SOOO COOOL!!!!!
My biggest downfall has to be a lack of planning and budgeting my time. I fly by the seat of my pants daily, due to everything I have going on, so I get started on things late and am easily distracted. I recently started listing EVERYTHING and it helps. It helps more when I follow the list… lol
Best feature is definitely the voice commands. Driving 350+ mi/wk makes looking at the phone unsafe at most times, so voice command capability is HUGE for me!
Focusing on what I need to do first rather than what I want to do now.
Jen
My pitfall: falling into the rabbit hole of ‘online inspiration’. As a designer/illustrator, I’ll go online to find visual reference of something I want to illustrate and get swept away with all the distractions: cool links, great sites, interesting articles!
Motorola Elite Silver: minimizing background noise…clients won’t be able to tell I’m loading the dishwasher! And the extra long range.
procrastination! since I work on the Internet, it’s hard to turn off the distractions. I just have to tell myself to focus using a timer and rewards– like a trip to Pintrest or Google Reader.
I love that the headset has voice commands. So helpful for driving and meeting!