5 Things To Do On Your Phone (Instead of shopping or social media)

So you’re sitting the Starbucks drive-through or waiting on your Walmart Grocery Pickup order and what do we usually do? Grab our phones and scroll IG or Amazon. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I have started trying to be intentional about this time.

Today I want to share with you 5 things to do on your phone that are quick and easy, but more productive than other non-task things.

1. Delete voicemails. Let me give a little confession here. If you call me and leave a voice mail I may or may not listen and respond. This was partly due to the fact that I had SOOO many. Like hundreds. (This is awful. I know.) But recently I decided to remedy that. Some of the ones that were a few years old I just deleted because there was nothing I could do about it now. But I did listen to the most recent ones and deleted them all. Thankfully I didn’t miss anything important. But I could have. Start with the newest or start with the oldest. Whatever makes you happy. But now that my voicemail inbox is clean it is not overwhelming at all to listen to that one voicemail and respond or delete it.
   Note: I did find an old message from my husband’s grandfather. We were so close to him and he just passed away in May of this year. I have that one still in my inbox, but I did also save it as a voice memo file and moved it to my computer. This way I will never leave this priceless memory of his voice.

2. Delete photos. Have you ever opened your photos to find that your 4-year-old has discovered how to take a selfie and she took 93? Just me? I give myself a goal to delete 100 photos at a time. It’s crazy how easy that is. I take screenshots because I need to send something or for a reminder and then I no longer need it, but it’s still taking space on my phone. Delete it. Free your phone of all the duplicates and unnecessary photos.

3. Create photo folders. This is something I’m still working on and it’s so helpful when I need to find something and it’s right where it needs to be, inside a folder. Here are some examples of photo folders I have. (These are just ideas. You will have to decide what works best for you.)

   1. Kids - these are my favorite photos of my kids. They bring a smile to my face and I don’t have to look very hard to find a cute one when I’m showing them off. ;)

   2. TGM - All of my The Goodness Margin photos are in this folder.

   3. Home - We have done several updates and I have people ask me often to see photos. I keep all photos of my home here.

   4. Work - I have some photos I need to send clients and I keep them here for easy access.

   5. Church - the same concept as my work photos.

4. Delete apps. We all have those apps that we never use. We added them because we needed the coupon for the store or we thought it would be a good app for our child, but we no longer need them. Delete them. You can always add the app back if you need it again.

5. Delete text messages and emails. Did you know these can really add a lot of data to your phone? Especially if they contain photos. If you don’t need this text thread, delete it.
   Now - here is a bonus in this category. Scroll down to the bottom of your text messages and find someone you haven’t talked to in a really long time and send a text! Rekindle that friendship or just brighten someone’s day by letting them know you were thinking of them.

I am sure there are some things I have not thought of. I would love to hear your ideas! I hope these tips help you to make good use of your time next time you have a few minutes to spare.