In this article I discuss 5 different ways you can use your smartphone to get more done in your personal and work life – at zero cost.  The tasks and features covered are common to majority of smartphone types.

1. Conducting Formal or Informal Interviews, Recording Conversations, & Capturing News

It happens to each one of us at different times. You have a conversation with someone, and come to an agreement. Then a week later the issue comes up for discussion and you both disagree on what exactly transpired. Why let that happen, when as business persons both of you most likely have smart phones you use. Simply agree to record your conversation, to provide a reference that you can use in future.

Another instance could be when you witness an event as an observer. Your smart phone can be used to record the video or audio version of happenings. Later on you could use it to send in potentially valuable footage to a media house (radio, TV etc). Such amateur productions have sometimes ended up being used to track down perpetrators of crimes etc.

And you could also conduct interview of key players in your industry or celebrities in society. It’s always more convenient to use a recording device to capture the interview live. Then later you can prepare a downloadable MP3 podcast (or video) version, and/or a transcribed version for use on your website.

2. Preparing Evidence/Proof For Discussions

Sometimes something happens that you need to go and discuss with one or more others to ensure it does not happen again. For instance, maybe next door to your place the water pump lacks a flow switch and the tank overflows into your compound causing a mess.

Taking a picture of the resulting situation can make it easier to impress upon the other person just how serious or inconvenient this is for you. Adding short video clip recorded when it was happening, can further boost the impact of your message and make her decide to eliminate the problem.

3. Giving Service Providers Work Specifications

You want to commission a service provider to build an item for use in your company. Maybe a computer table or door etc. Or it could be that you need to purchase large quantities of corporate gift items, but want to be sure you don’t end up with fake or substandard versions that recently flooded the market.

Once again your smart phone can do a lot for you. Get it and go round the places where you can find the original quality items that you want. If already on your premises, get good pictures of it from different angles. Then use those pictures for evaluating any samples sent in by interested suppliers.

Or if you are visiting the markets, show the items in your phone to the vendor and ask that he bring to you items he has matching the ones in your pictures or videos. Doing this gives you a standard to compare with and ensures you drastically minimize chances of getting ripped off.

4. Learning a Language

It was while visiting Cameroon in 1999, that I first discovered the value of listening to recordings of real life conversations by native speakers of a language. I’d used videos produced by the French ministry of education which were obtained from the linguistic attaché from France to Nigeria. However, what I learnt from watching those educational dramas could naturally not cover all possible contexts and vocabulary range that I would encounter in the real world.

So, within a few days of arriving in Cameroon, I realized there was a lot I still needed to learn to converse fluently in the real world. And I knew I had to be able to play back all that I heard each day, so I could get used to them faster. Thankfully I had brought a micro cassette recorder with me.

What I proceeded to do was to capture as many real life conversations as I could everywhere I went. Then when I got back to my host’s place, I would retire to my room and listen to the playback repeatedly. I took it a step further by placing my recorder next to the radio and recording news broadcasts, radio shows, drama sketches and other programmes that were aired.

Again, while everyone slept, I would stay up late listening to the play back. When I got back to Nigeria, I had over 10 micro cassette recordings each at least 60 minutes of conversation long.

Today smart phones make it much easier to do the same thing. And I already use mine for that purpose. What’s more, with a little effort you can transfer your audio recording to your computer and use it in other ways, without having to call in any expert.

5. Coaching or Training Others

Sometimes you want to teach others how to carry out a task. For instance, I taught my 13 year old son how to use the ATM machine by doing a video recording of the steps involved in the process on my Blackberry, while giving verbal explanations.

Getting home I gave him the device and he played it back repeatedly, asking me questions at different stages. By the time we went there together again, it was no longer so new to him.

I’ve used this strategy in many other ways with great success.

For instance, while coaching my kids on basic principles of math and English, I wanted to avoid having to repeat my explanation of key concepts. So I recorded my discussion sessions with them with the audio recorder.

After we had finished a few exercises, I connected the smart phone to my subwoofer and made them play it back and listen to it repeatedly. After that, we came together again and discussed areas they were not clear about.

This helped me save a lot of energy I would have expended in speaking. And so I was able to get some of my own work done as well.

It goes without saying that the above is not an exhaustive listing. However, for persons who find they do not yet do one or more of the above, it provides a useful starting point.