Staying Afloat In A Sea of Apps

5 Smart Strategies for navigating your overabundant mobile world

Here on earth, water is most vital for the sustenance of all life. But there is a name for the unsavoury condition of anyone found neck-deep in an overabundance of water — drowning. A similar condition plays out in the world of phones, tabs and their accompanying mobile applications. All our mobile phones come pre-installed with apps. Whether pre or user-installed, most phones end up cluttered with a sea of unneeded and therefore often unused mobile applications.

Living in a world of mobile superfluity, it is possible to get drowned out in the deluge of goodies and entirely miss out on the promises of a better life. The reasons for this dilemma are not far-fetched. For a start, there is almost no area of human need or service for which there are no mobile applications.

The list is growing longer with previously unimagined needs and services cropping up all the time. Just name any human need or service and there is an app in existence for it. There are apps for;

• Multimedia
• Reading
• Writing
• Productivity
• Social Media
• News
• Utilities
• and many more

If you have a need, there is an app for it. Not that apps will solve any or all of your problems, though. For every paid or free app on your phone, there is a better alternative to the same app either free or paid.

According to Dr Barry Schwartz, an overabundance of choice has been a disappointing bittersweet experience to modern man — you and me. Spoilt for choice as we are, "We get", according to Dr Schwartz, "what we want, only to discover that what we want doesn't satisfy us to the degree that we expect."

Making wise decisions in our choice and use of mobile devices and their apps can increase our productivity in more healthy ways. The following five approaches will help you use and manage the apps on your phone.

1. Chose wisely

It is not the number of apps installed on your phone that matters, but how well and productive you get served by these apps. Recognize that for every mobile app on your phone there is always an equally better and often almost free alternative. The average user uses only fractions of the full potentials of their mobile phones and the apps they carry.

2. Explore and get the best

Psychologists explain people’s approach to making decisions and choices as falling into two categories. You are either a maximizer - a person who strives to make a choice that will give maximum benefits later on - or a satisficer, whose choices are determined by more modest criteria and nothing more.

How do these two concepts typically apply to the phone user? If you are a maximizer, you may spend so much time seeking the best app for a particular need. The inordinate amounts of time spent seeking the best app often comes at an exorbitant price - less productivity, dissatisfaction, regret, and missed opportunities, and still more time spent seeking for ever better alternatives.

The satisficer's choices are guided by few objective options that are good enough despite the promise of better, faster, and more glittering upgrades. Without basic satisfaction and contentment, you will keep on seeking for ever-fleeting maximum benefits.

3. Organization is key

None of us will ever imagine using the services of a library where the collection of books is in a messy, jumbled heap. Yet, that’s exactly the way many people use the apps on their phones.

Unorganized apps are frustrating to use. They could even slow down the efficiency and productivity they were meant to serve. On any average phone, scores of apps are running behind the scene besides scores or hundreds more running and available at the users' commands. At last count, my phone is loaded with over 200 system and user apps.

The user interface on some phones makes for quick access to apps in a two or three finger slides and clicks. Other user interfaces make it boring and trying experiences to get to any of the users' apps. For Android phones, this is often due to not so friendly launcher apps. The simplest and quickest solution is to grab more intuitive launcher apps from the Google Play store. I tried many apps before settling for Go Launcher. I've been using it for over six years. iPhones similarly have intuitive and time-saving user interfaces.

Once you are comfortable with your phone's user interface, the next thing to do is a one-time arrangement of your apps on the home screen. On my phone, all my most frequently used apps and contacts are organized on just two screens. The launcher also comes with both vertical and horizontal docks for apps that flip out on a finger stroke from the edge. Altogether, I have the equivalent of two home screens that give me access to any of my 50 most frequently used apps.

The launcher app also enables me to create folders where I can store similar applications’ shortcut icons. With this option, you can have your apps arranged in any of the following user-created folders - Multimedia, Reading, Writing, Social Media, Utilities, or Productivity, Microsoft or Google, etc. On my phone, these apps folders make for quick and intuitive access to any of my most frequently used apps and contacts in only 3 clicks and flicks.

4. Audit and wean out

Regularly audit and weed out rarely used apps from your phone. With apps available or in the works for almost any imaginable need, finding rarely used apps on your device may be an exercise in futility. Some launchers pop up with messages notifying you of applications you have not used in a long while. Decluttering your phone of unused apps can help you ward off unnecessary distractions, get more focused, and increase your productivity.

5. Stay content, stay happy

In the past era, when personal computers and laptops were the main computing devices available, software applications needed to ship almost perfect and bug-free. These days, the software on your phones is constantly undergoing incrementally better iterations from their makers. Most software upgrades are done behind the scene non-intrusive.

All the same, the life-cycle of most phones is no longer than 3 years. With good handling, most of these devices are sturdy enough to last for over 5 years. Their inherent staying power notwithstanding, these devices quickly become obsolete because of advancement in software. Often, newer and better software cannot run on older devices, even though these older devices could still meet users' needs for years ahead.

One or two backup apps are all you need. For instance, you can safely bet on the fact that applications from majors like Microsoft and Google are going to be around for a long while. Therefore, you don't need applications that duplicate the complete functionalities of Microsoft Word, Excel, or OneNote. What I do is to use a minimalist equivalent like Zoho Notes in place of Word and OneNote. Also, if WhatsApp fails, I switch over to Telegram. And should in case Slack decides to close shop at any time, I can switch over to Discord almost seamlessly. By using this approach, you can minimize the number of unused apps on your phone.

Finally, know that your latest and most glittering gadget is not going to be the best forever. Your mobile phone and its latest software instantly becomes obsolete as soon as you purchase it. Your key to a life of fulfilling productivity is to stay content and make the best use of your over-connected and “over apped” gadgets. Need I say more?

Key takeaways

Mobile phone users are spoilt for choice with the availability of software and applications at their disposal. The following are some tips that will help you choose apps to increase your productivity.

1. Explore and make your choice. There is always a simpler, cheaper and better option to any of the apps you use. Make your choices and stick with them (at least for a while).
2. Stop hunting for the latest gadget and the best app. Know that the best gadget and app soon becomes outdated. Make the most optimal use of what you have first.
3. Organizing your apps in an intuitive and quick to reach user interface will reduce unnecessary stress and increase your productivity.
4. Audit and weed out all unneeded and less frequently used apps.
5. Stay content, stay happy.

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SOURCE:

©Barry Schartz, The Paradox of Choice, HarperCollins, 2004

DISCLOSURES:

The author is not in any affiliate or marketing promotion relationship with the makers of the products mentioned in this article.