We all seem to be attached to your smartphones as if they’re glued to our hands, so when it comes to thinking of productive things to do on your phone, chances are you’ve already got it handy.
It could be that you’re away from the house and have some time waiting waiting for your child’s soccer practice to finish, or maybe you man the front desk at work and are allowed to do other things when it’s slow.
Whatever the reason you’re searching for things to do on your phone that are productive, I’ve got the full list so you’ll have your life organized and on point by the time you finish.
Best tools for Productivity
Don’t want to waste time reading? Check out my favorite resources here:
– this is the best daily planner for productivity and actually getting stuff done
– if you prefer virtual planning, use ClickUp
– struggle with procrastination? This book will change your life
1. Do Your Budgets with YNAB
No time like the present to organize your budget, and you can do it from your phone on the YNAB app.
YNAB allows you to plug in your income and then allocate it to various “pots” each month.
This is a great way to keep track of what you’re saving and spending, as well as make sure you’re saving enough for future goals.
You can do it all from your phone, especially because many banks now allow you to login via the app on your phone, so you can be anywhere in the world to get your finances in order.
Though it’s also a great productive thing to do when home so you have access to paper bank statements.
2. Make Sure You’ve Responded to All Texts and Social Media Messages
This is a basic one, but you know those messages you get and mean to respond to, but don’t get around to it?
Do it now!
One of the most productive things to do on your phone to keep your life in order is simply to get back to people.
Text back your mom who texted you yesterday, message your friend who messaged you last week that you forgot about.
Don’t leave anyone hanging and make sure you have gotten back to everyone.
3. Do a Purge of Your E-mail Inbox
Dealing with E-mail can be one of the most annoying productivity killers because you spend so much time reading it, getting sent spam e-mail, and trying to find important e-mails in a sea of nonsense.
If you have e-mail on your phone, it’s easy enough to go through and start deleting everything you no longer need.
More importantly, you can actually unsubscribe from tons of mailing lists from your phone by just opening up the e-mail and then hitting the “unsubscribe” link which is usually at the top or the bottom.
This has helped my productivity tenfold because I now only get e-mails that I actually want to see, which are an alarming 10-15% of what I used to get!
4. Fill In a Habit Tracker
Whether you’re trying to lose weight, wake up at the same time daily, or keep track of other habits, I love habit trackers on your phone that allow you to make graphs and charts of how we’ll you’re doing.
Using a habit tracker is pointless if you don’t keep up with it daily to input whether you have or haven’t done the habit, so make it a point to open these apps and get down to it.
You can find some awesome habit trackers in my guide to the best getting things done tools.
I also love this printable and downloadable habit tracker that you can download to your phones.
5. Meal Plan
It’s always possible to meal plan for the week from your phone by looking up recipes on the internet and then plugging them into an app like My Fitness Pal which can help with the nutritional information.
Sticking to a plan can be really helpful if you have a goal to lose weight or just not run to the store every 10 minutes.
Or you could simply decide what recipes you want to do and then plug the information into a productivity or scheduling app, or even just write it in your Notes section.
6. Do Some Phone Yoga
Got your phone with you?
Then you have no excuse not to do some yoga!
There are plenty of yoga apps that you can use with instructional videos and guides so you can prop up your phone, find some free space, and start doing some yoga to keep you fit and calm.
This would work best, obviously if you have the room to do it or were in a park or other open space.
Might not work as well in the office, but, hey, you do you.
7. Meditate
Sitting on a train or waiting for something and needing some much needed chill time to calm yourself when stressed?
Download a meditation app to practice mindfulness and lower your levels of anxiety and other negative feelings.
The app will guide you through exactly what to do, how to sit or stand, and what to think (or not think) about during the meditation.
There are plenty of beginning meditation apps that start you out easy and encourage you until you feel confident to advance to more mindful meditations after you’ve practiced.
Meditations can be as short as a few minutes, so there’s no excuse not to try.
8. Listen to Podcasts
If you’ve got your phone, but can’t keep looking at the screen, use it to listen to podcasts.
It’s one of the best things to do when you’re bored!
Podcasts are one of the most popular ways to get information these days, as you can turn them on in the car, at the gym, while doing yard work, or a myriad of other ways.
There are both information and entertainment podcasts, with some being a mixture of the two.
You could listen to one purely for entertainment reasons to have some free time and laugh, or you could listen to a podcast that tries to teach you something.
For instance, there is a Food Blogger Pro podcast that is a podcast specifically with tips for food bloggers to help them earn a living from this career.
There are also podcasts related to women in business, medical podcasts, and more.
9. Learn a Language
You don’t always have to travel abroad to learn a new language.
Use your phone and download a language learning app like DuoLingo and you can be speaking new words in no time, or take one of these awesome online courses.
These apps allow you both to listen and to practice what you’re learning, and many include games and other ways of connecting with people who are also practicing.
You have no limits when it comes to learning a language from your phone, as you can learn most popular languages from around the world and as many as you want.
10. Create a Workout Plan
Whether you’re sitting at the doctor’s office waiting to be called or in the carpool line at a standstill, your fitness should always be in the forefront of your mind if you want to live a healthy life.
There are plenty of apps that allow you to build a workout routine from your phone, including expert advice and space to type in your own plans.
This is key when it comes to staying focused on your goals.
Don’t forget to add these to your habit tracker later to make sure you’re on point.
11. Train Your Brain
Keeping your brain healthy is an important part of staying sharp and alert, and you can train your brain from the comfort of your phone.
There are plenty of apps that will basically give you puzzles, games, and problems to solve that are proven to keep your brain working well and keeping your neuroconnections going strong.
Lumosity is one of the best brain training apps out there, and you can do it in small chunks if you don’t have a lot of time to sit down and do it all at once.
12. Scan Paperwork
Did you know that you can scan paperwork just using your phone?
No need for a bulky scanner anymore!
An iPhone has this feature built in, but you can also download plenty of scanning apps that will do it for you.
This is a fantastic way to get rid of paperwork and not have it clogging up all of the drawers in your house.
Go around with your phone, scan everything essential in, e-mail it to yourself as well so you have double protection, and there you go.
13. Create a Presentation
If you need to create a presentation for work, you can do it from your phone.
Plenty of presentation options like Prezzi can be accessed on your phone and allow you to put together entire presentations without having to go to a computer.
14. Edit Photos
Whether you’re using photos for your blog, a presentation, or just to send out to family and friends, you can edit them right within your phone.
This isn’t to say that you need to edit them within an inch of their life to post to Instagram, but sometimes adjusting them a bit really helps them come out much better and can reduce redeye and other annoying photo mistakes.
15. Study for a Test
Got a driving theory test coming up? Citizenship test? Math test? History test?
No matter what you’re studying for, if a component of it involves questions and answers that can be studied with flashcards, you can download an app that will probably be able to help you by having virtual flashcards or pre-made quizzes to test your knowledge.
This is a great way to get in some extra studying while out and about, particularly if you’re studying for something like a driving theory test where you just need to practice answering multiple choice questions and can do one or two here and there as you go about your day.
Study apps can also help you get motivated to study or stay focused on your homework.
