We all like to tinker with our phones and tablets. We like to spend time setting them up so they work as we want them to and many people do this just because they can.
It is all too easy to get bogged down in the world of digital tinkering and therefore waste more time than you save by owning a smartphone in the first place. Widgets, wallpapers, new apps, games and media will quickly eat up your time if you let them and the temptation to make the most out of your new device by pushing it to the limit is there all of the time.
However, if you can get to the point where your phone does what you need it do, you will be able to work much more efficiently. Apps that work for a particular task will continue to do so and rarely need changing. If something new comes along that has specific extra functionality, it makes sense to try it out, but rarely does a new solution beat a solution that already works well. If you have a system that works on your phone, sticking to it gives you the best chance of forgetting about what you are doing. I have reached that point and find that for most tasks I just get them done and rarely think about the product I am doing them on. It’s a nice feeling after so many years of tinkering.
Hardware, on the other hand, is a completely different matter. Whether you tinker every day or just get things done, chances are that your smartphone is incredibly important to you. When it becomes so important and you see a new phone pop up with a better screen, longer battery life and greater speed they are hard to resist, and often they make for sensible purchases. Not always, but a smartphone in particular can become so often used that you may as well have the best solution you can.
So it is all about balance- keep an eye on the latest technology, but try to find a software setup that works for you and stick with it.
About Chris Ward