Need a Virtual Assistant? Use Your Phone!

If you find yourself forgetting appointments, losing your 'to do' list, or missing deadlines? If so, use your smart phone as a virtual assistant to help organize your life and increase your productivity. I use the iPhone but any smart phone will do all the tasks listed in this article.

Calendar

I use the calendar to keep track of engagements and reoccurring tasks. When I enter a task or event in the calendar, I designate whether it is to be repeated and how often. The calendar has an alert to warn me days, hours or minutes before the scheduled event. I track my workouts, meetings and reminders. After I have accomplished a task, I delete it off the calendar. Every night I make sure I have done everything I had scheduled that day, and then I preview what is scheduled for the next day. When I wake up the next morning, I know exactly how my time will be spent.


Notes
In the past I was a 'list person'. I wrote down my 'to-do' list everyday but then I would usually lose the list. I don't know how many times I went to the grocery store then realized I had left my shopping list at home. So now I use the Notes application. This is wonderful because if I run by the store on the way home from work to pick up milk, I can quickly check the shopping list I made in my Notes app to see if I need to buy anything else.

I use my Notes app to keep up a grocery list, a 'to do' list, store questions I need to bring up during meetings and to keep track of orders I have placed online. I can even use it as a dictionary because the application has a built-in spell check.


iPod

The iPhone has a built-in iPod and the sound quality is wonderful. During long runs or bike rides I have the convenience of both an iPod for music and a phone just in case of emergencies. I can visit iTunes on my phone and download music if I hear a new song I want.

Email and Internet

I can email myself directly from the Notes application which is a wonderful because this information can be printed out if needed. I no longer hand write notes during business meetings - now I just type them into my phone, email them to myself and print them out. I literally drafted my personal policy manual while waiting in an airport during a business trip. A chapter of my first book was written while on a Jet Ski in the middle of a lake near my home. When I returned home, I simply went to my email and printed the documents out.

I am connected to the Internet anytime of the day no matter where I am. I love this because I am one of those curious people who Goggle to find out information twenty times a day. I can also go online to check my bank balance and pay bills online. I can even shop online right on my phone. During a commute one morning I booked a cruise!

Address Book (Contacts)

I no longer collect business cards. When I meet someone at a meeting, I simply create a new contact in the Contacts app. I can put any information I want in their contact file: name, telephone numbers, address, email addresses, birth dates, office information, websites, instant message names, and any random notes I feel like writing about this person. I usually note where I met them and if they want me to get in touch with them regarding business. I can take a picture to store with the contact and when they call I can assign them their own ringtone and their picture appears when they call my phone.

I do not carry my own business cards anymore. If someone wants my contact information I have a form email and text that I send them. They now have my information on their phone and they do not have to worry about keeping up with my card.

Travel

The iPhone is a wonderful travel companion. I can use the Maps Application to find directions. There are apps that allow me to locate restaurants and reserve a table. I can check the weather where I am or at my destination. Time flies while I am traveling if I can occupy my mind. While waiting in the airport I might read books on a reading application, play games, watch movies on my iPod, listen to a downloaded audio book or practice my Spanish.

I store all my frequent flyer numbers in the Contacts App by airline which saved me twelve hours one time when my flight was cancelled in Aspen, Colorado. The airline was trying to book an entire plane of people onto other airlines. Delta airlines took me over other travelers because I was able to give them my frequent flyer number right off my phone - the other travelers only had the number of the airline they were traveling on their paperwork. In addition, I store all the information for rental car companies and their loyalty programs. I have my auto insurance information stored in my phone just in case I have an accident while traveling in a rental car.
You will not have to keep up with boarding passes any longer because most airline companies will send you a code your airline attendant can scan directly off your phone. My iPhone literally saved my vacation one time when I lost our Expedia travel papers. Of course I had Expedia's number stored in my contacts but I also made a Travel contact and stored the itinerary number, flight numbers and times, hotel and rental car numbers. Even though I lost my paperwork, all the information was stored on the phone.

One time while walking around Chicago on a business trip I got lost. I simply called the hotel phone number that I stored in my phone contacts under 'Travel' to get directions. As a plus, the hotel front desk person took pity upon me and sent a car since I was six blocks away and it had started to snow. I think I sounded a little bit freaked out because it doesn't snow a lot in my hometown. What a wonderful treat it was to be picked up in a nice warm car and taken back to the hotel. This would have never happened if I had not stored their number in my phone.

Speaking of hotels, the iPhone has an alarm so I no longer have to worry about getting a wakeup call or deal with an unfamiliar hotel alarm clock. It has a flashlight as well, which came in handy during a fire emergency in the middle of the night. That night I also learned of another use for my phone - the camera. One of the men on my floor had taken a picture of the emergency route posted on the door inside his hotel room. A group of us sleepy, disoriented travelers followed him to the emergency exit.
The camera

I think I have the most fun with the camera. You can use it to download pictures to Facebook or other social media sites and you can email or text pictures to people in your contact list.

During a renovation of our bathroom, I took pictures of the various sinks I thought would work with the tile. I also took a picture of the written dimensions on the toilet to avoid writing them down incorrectly and ordering the wrong size replacement toilet.
When I am at business meetings, I can take pictures of informative posters and handouts instead of writing the information down or taking the paperwork with me.
In Atlanta one time while walking back to my hotel, a man approached me. I asked to be left alone and when he insisted on walking beside me I snapped a picture of him and hit the email button. I told him I had just emailed his picture to my husband who is a police officer. He turned and walked away.

Finally, the pictures you store on your phone become an easy way to carry your photo album. When traveling, pictures of your loved ones are never far away.
Go shopping for more Apps!

An App or Application is a free or small cost downloadable software program that is created to perform a specific function. Apps will allow you to expand the use of your phone far beyond a 'calling device'. Types of apps include games, downloadable books, calorie counting devices for dieters, language translation services and social websites. The list is endless and new apps are created daily. Just search Apps on your computer or visit the App store on your phone.

Protect your information

I back up my iPhone every week to my computer because if it were damaged or lost I would be literally lost. Birthdays, employee annual reviews, doctor appointments, yearly bills and my contacts are now safely stored on my computer and a flash drive. The only thing that can't be backed up to a computer is the Notes section - therefore I email myself my notes once a week.

The iPhone is the single most important organization tool I own. It is a must have for the busy business person who is constantly losing important things. It is a calendar, phone book, camera, flashlight, alarm clock, book, movie player, music player, game player, travel companion, grocery list, word processor, photo album, and a travel guide. Now if the guys at Apple could just figure out how to make it drive a car it would be perfect. There will probably be an app for that someday!