20/20 Tasks: Smartphone Productivity While You Wait

Do You Waste Time While You Wait?

How much time do you actually spend waiting? My guess is that you don’t quite know how much time you spend waiting in lines, but that you do know it’s a lot! Did you know that the average 70-year-old has spent 2-3 years of his or her life waiting in lines? You probably haven't hit that age yet, but what are you going to do about it? Are you willing to waste 2-3 years of your life waiting?

Ever since I got myself a mobile phone about 12 years ago, I certainly have been able to entertain myself by calling someone while waiting in line—you? With the arrival of the Smartphone, however, things changed even more!  It seems we should all be more productive, but are we? (And… if we aren't more productive, at least our kids are quiet while we wait, right?) How are you doing on that waiting-in-line-productivity?

As a busy social media manager, I depend on my iPhone when I travel or meet with clients and, yes, when I wait in line! There are many social-media-related tasks you can do from your phone, so I set out to find 20/20 tasks.

Twenty tasks you can do in 20 minutes or less from your Smartphone.

1. Craft and schedule 5-8 posts to your Facebook Page.
2. Check your Facebook Page insights and plan your weeks’ posts accordingly.
3. Read 5-8 blog posts on your Feedly app.
4. Leave 3-5 well thought out and relevant blog comments.
5. Use Feedly to post to your different accounts, or send articles to Buffer.
6. Load up your Buffer using Buffer app.
7. Brainstorm 20 blog post ideas -  I use my Notes app for that.
8. Outline two future blog posts.
9. Circle and connect with 20-30 people or pages on G+.
10. Start 3-5 Twitter conversations and @reply to several people.
11. Find a few new Twitter lists and follow the people on those lists.
12. Read articles published on LinkedIn Publisher; leave comments.
13. Pick three people you’ve recently worked with; write them a LinkedIn recommendation.
14. Repin a few Pinterest pins to boards you forgot you had.
15. Organize your Smartphone pictures and delete those you don’t want anymore.
16. Create several picture collages.
17. Listen to 1-2 TED talks.
18. Check and organize your Google calendar.
19. Use a list organizer (I use AnyList) to make a shopping list for office supplies.
20. Call your mom.

What do you get done while you wait? Can you add to my 20/20 task list?

I’d love to know how you spend your time waiting in line; won't you share with me what you do?