People often ask me, "Scott, you are a productivity expert. What is your secret weapon on your smartphone? What is the one app that you can't live without? The secret sauce, the secret tool that helps you stay focused and productive?"
And when I share with them which of my apps is my most frequently used one, they are often very, very surprised.
Often they'll guess, "Is my calendar that my most used app?" No.
"Is it email?" No.
"Twitter? YouTube?" No.
And you'll notice that I don't have a dedicated to-do list manager or a task app here on my home screen.
No.
When I reveal to them that my favorite and most used app is the exact same app that they have on their phone, often they look at me a little dumbfounded.
And that's because my secret.
The Clock App
Weapon is the clock app.
That's right, the clock app, the default app that comes with every single smartphone.
Whether you're an Android user or an iPhone user, we all have the clock app.
So what's with the clock app, Scott? Why is that your productivity secret or your most favorite tool on your smartphone?
Well, it's not because of the alarms.
Sure, you can preset a few different alarms to help you get up in the morning. Most of us are using our smartphone as our alarm in the morning.
No, I'm not just glancing at the time on a regular basis. That would not be a good use of my time.
The area of the clock app that I use more frequently than anything else is the timer function. This helps me stay focused. This helps me stay on top of my tasks and my work throughout the day.
So let me give you an example. Here you see I've got a timer set for 45 minutes. Often, when I sit down at my desk and, let's say, I want to focus on email for 45 minutes exclusively, I don't want to be distracted by anything else. I don't want to be glancing at the clock or the calendar or anything else. I just want to deal with email.
I'll set it for 45 minutes, hit start, and now I don't have to worry about anything else. I don't have to keep glancing at my phone or maybe the bottom right-hand corner of my tray on my desktop. I know I've got enough time. I've set it to that amount of time, and now I can focus exclusively on that task.
When 45 minutes is up, a small chime will sound. Then I can reevaluate—do I want to spend a few more minutes with email, or do I need to move on to something else? Or maybe I set it for 45 minutes because I had a meeting coming up in an hour, and I wanted to give myself just a little bit of time between finishing up some emails and getting to that meeting.
Now, a few other great things you can do with your timer within your smartphone app are setting a number of presets. Maybe there are certain lengths of time that you use quite frequently. I'll give you a few examples on my own phone.
Here you see I have a 15-minute length. I will use it for two purposes. One, you see it's even listed as my nap length. I try to fit in a power nap early in the afternoon when I can. I also usually take a 15-minute break once or twice throughout the day.
I've also got a shorter break that I may take more frequently. Here, it's set for five minutes.
So the great thing about punching in or having these predetermined times is that you don't have to go tapping in the time amount each and every time. You can just swipe to the length or the selection that you desire and hit go.
And you're often using that timer. The last one here is two minutes, just a short one. And you can see it's listed as power pose. If any of you have read Amy Cuddy's book Presence, you know exactly what I mean by a two-minute power pose.
So yes, more than a task app, more than email, more than even calendar or my Trello board, I use the timer. I use the clock app more than anything else.
And I would encourage you to consider using the timer function on your smartphone to help you stay more productive, help you stay more focused and engaged with your work.
Conclusion
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