Smartphone Anonymous

You fall asleep to it every night, and you wake up to it every morning. You obsessively check on it through out the night, and sometimes it even wakes you up. No, it's not your significant other or your child - it's your smartphone. A New York Times article written by Tanya Mohn, "Silencing the Smartphone" discusses how companies are making resolutions to wean their employees off their smartphones by adopting in office policies.

More and more companies are adopting these technology policies in order to keep employees alert, refreshed and balanced. A nationwide survey of 2,254 adults found that 44 percent of cellphone owners had slept with their phone next to their bed and that 67 percent had experienced “phantom rings,” checking their phone even when it was not ringing or vibrating. Contrary to popular belief, these habits actually undermine productivity. In order to combat this vicious cycle, the Chief Executive of Empower Public Relations in Chicago, Sam Chapman, has enforced what he calls a, "BlackBerry blackout policy". From 6 p.m. until 6 a.m., both Chapman and his employees turn off their smartphones. Chapman stated that the policy has increased company productivity and morale.

Still, one of the best pieces of advice I took from the article was from a founder of a startup company who said, “Just because you can e-mail at 2 a.m., doesn’t mean it’s a good thing". I'm not recommending we all go cold turkey but we can probably all agree we should put down the phone every once and awhile.

My name is Cori and I'm addicted to my smartphone, are you?

Prioritizing Perfection

Being in the Public Relations field, its hard to swallow that sometimes perfect isn't always the best. Whether we're writing a press release, a blog post, or an e-mail blast, we want every word to come across precisely the way we want it to, without any disconnect. But is it worth it to spend all that time deciding whether to use this or that word, when you could be making better use of your creativity and time? Below are some pointers on prioritizing your professional life:

• Quantify the improvement likely to come from your efforts-Think about it like a ratio, say 5:1. If you put five hours into a project to get one product, then you're wasting a lot of time for a minimal result. That time could be put in another place where you would get more of a result, which is where prioritizing comes in.


• Get fresh eyes on the situation-You may think that you will do the best job on your project, and that may be true, but it never hurts to get a second opinion. Something you have missed may have so minute that you couldn't possibly have noticed it, but if another person came around and took a glance, they would be able to pinpoint it in seconds. They will provide you with a different outlook on your project that will undoubtedly be in your favor.


• Start in the middle-I connect this to writing blogs. Sometimes the hardest part of writing is starting. Instead of wasting time pondering over the title, I'll push it aside and just delve into the topic. That way you get the bulk of the work over with and have a better idea of how to introduce it.


• Set small goals-Its easy to get overwhelmed by all of the work you have to do. Set small goals throughout the day, like spending 2 hours on your paper without any distractions, and in no time, you'll be finished!

Do you have a hard time delegating? How do you get through 'Prioritizing Perfection'? Let us know!