Everyone is busy and rushing around these days. Working women are no exception. There are significant demands placed on our daily lives with no chance of them easing any time soon. For women with children the demands increase as you have to work just as hard at the office prior to rushing home to care for the kids – making dinner, doing homework, then pulling out the laptop after eleven. For women that own their business the demands increase even further as the lines between the work week and weekend all but disappear.
Fortunately technology has given women everywhere a way to multi task a little easier. The iPhone and its many applications can be used to help women organize their schedule and complete tasks on the run. Here are some ways you can use the iPhone as your mobile office:
- Cloud Server. Using a cloud server like Google allows you to have your email, documents and calendar all in one place. If a client or colleague needs a document while you are out of the office all you have to do is click the application on your phone, identify the document and “share” it with the other party. There is no need to rush home or to the office to pull something off your physical computer.
- Scanner. There is a free application that will turn pictures into PDFs. This can take the place of a mobile scanner on the go. Simply take a picture of the document, convert to PDF, and email it out.
- Payment Processing. Women that take payments for products or services, yes you can use this for a consulting company, can use the payment processing company Square on their iPhone. Square lets you create an account for free, ships you a device that plugs into your phone and swipes credit cards – all for free. You pay a small merchant processing fee when running transactions. This freedom allows you to take payments anywhere at any time.
- Record. The iPhone can record audio or video notes of your meetings so that a tape recorder is no longer needed.
- Internet. Prior to the smart phone people had to go back to a computer to access the internet and do research. If an idea popped into your head or a client needed to know something a busy woman had to wait until back at her desk. With more appointments to get to things could easily be forgotten or delayed. Now with the iPhone you can conduct your research immediately.
- Notes. It is easy to take notes during meetings directly on your phones application then instead of typing them up to email to colleagues, assistants, or clients immediately and directly email them from your phone.
Leveraging technology can make work run smoothly and by freeing up your time – allow you to acquire additional clients. The thing to remember is not to use it while driving. According to Ginarte Law Firm 28% of auto accidents are now caused by cell phone use. Your iPhone is supposed to help you achieve more but there still needs to be limitations. Put it down while driving and do your best to leave it in a different room during dinner. Freeing up more of your time so that you can spend more time on your phone doesn’t accomplish anything. Use technology to be more efficient so that you can spend your extra time doing things and spending time with the people that are important to you (face to face not text to text).
Bethany Wood
Bethany Wood is a serial entrepreneur and has started several successful companies in a variety of fields including manufacturing, distribution, consumer goods, financial services, marketing and consulting. She is currently the President of SEI International and has business interest in the US, India and China. As an entrepreneur Bethany is constantly finding opportunities to expand SEI’s holdings and as a business owner she is continually learning new ways to improve business performance. As a writer Bethany contributed to and edited the Back to Basics management book.
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