Look Robot! Do What I Say!

Did you know you are carrying a robot in your pocket? Yup, if you are carrying a mobile device with you, you are traveling with a little robotic friend that even makes the “beep” and the “boop” noises that movies tell us robots make. But, unlike the movies, your robot will not call you Dave and throw you out of an airlock into space. No, our phones are more like our friends. In some cases people hold their phones more than they hold their kids.

Your cell phone is always speaking with the cell phone tower to stay in communication with your most important friends, family, and clients. That little robotic communicator brings you your email, keeps track of your appointments, takes your pictures and if you have a smartphone (which you should) does hundreds of additional tasks that you might not have time to keep track of. Most of these tasks happen behind the scenes.

Smartphones are more than a cell phone. They are essentially a computer. With my smartphone, I can make phone calls, write a word document and look at pictures of my trip to Las Vegas, all at the same time. There is a lot of functionality built into the smartphone. Utilize all of the functionality of your phone. Explore the assistance that your smartphone has to offer. Put your smartphone to work for you. It wants to work.

However you look at it, these mobile devices are an integral part of the new world of work. Those who spend their careers on the road, or those who want to live their work life outside the limits of what we have been told is normal, need to carry a mobile communication device. As smartphones get smaller, faster and more intelligent, the confines of a cubical office environment can be traded in for a working environment on the go. A board meeting can be attended from the beach with Skype, you can keep up with inter-office communications with Yammer, and control your office computer with your smartphone with Log Me In. Your little robot is like your administrative assistant. That device is there to keep you on track. Even if you have the most basic of cell phones, chances are it has applications on it that will assist you. Remember to explore and appreciate all that your robot has to offer.