I have only recently upgraded to a phone with any meaningful voice capabilities, an iPhone with Siri in my particular case. And I really hadn’t put it to the test, but that changed this past weekend. I had a long solo drive home and time to think.
When I headed out, I had some logistical details, so I asked Siri to call home. This I’d done before. Then, finding out m’lady was out and about, I decided to see if I could text by voice as well (which my brother assures me is how he always does it on his Android device). Sure enough, I could send text messages.
I’d deliberately set my mind around focusing on my current project and taking some ideas further. And, indeed, I had a revelation. What could I do? Could I take a note? Why, yes, I can. However, Siri stopped too early, so I tried speaking quicker. Which has it’s own problems, but I achieved a useful reminder.
Then I thought of a further text message. Remembering the last message, I spoke quickly, and this time Siri munged two words together. (“Call when free” became “Call Winfrey”, and I didn’t think Oprah would take my call). This time I had to try again, and pause more between my words. At least it didn’t end too quickly. (Wish she’d ask me, if I cancel, whether I want to try again.)
And, then I decided I’d write a blog post about my thoughts, and I wanted a reminder (there’ve been times in the past when I had a good topic, but by the time I got back I couldn’t remember what it was). By experimentation, I found that I could indeed also make a Reminder (aka ‘ToDo’). So I made one for that post (coming soon), and one to write this (see, it works!). I only wish Siri could diagram for me too, or at least drive so I can do the diagramming ;).
Two take home lessons:
For one, experiment! One of the ways I got on top of mobile was by trying everything I could to see how I could use mobile to make me more effective. As the lotteries would have it, you have to be in it to win it. (Social media is where I usually make this statement.)
For another, taking time for reflection is powerful, particularly if you seed yourself a goal. I turned off the radio to make sure I wasn’t distracted, and the miles flew by while I worked on my topic.
Coming in my next post, my revelation.
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