Make your phone 'useful'

Today, I honestly laud ladies with those fancy smart phones they carry, some of them the size of my face. These smart phones in all their brands speak and tell a story of ‘goodbye dependence, welcome independent woman’…

These phones got all kinds of Apps (applications) – fashion, instaframe, mobile news apps, true caller, Google maps, social media apps et cetera.

A recent study by Google said the most searched topic in Kenya via mobile phones was kissing. So I wondered exactly what do we use these sleek phones and tabs for? I asked this question aloud to a few friends and guess what, shock on me… “Some ladies just carry phones for status not to make good use of them. The contacts they have in their phonebooks are pizzeria, cab guy and just friends who don’t even help them progress,” I refuted and still do so.

I like to believe that while it’s important to have on standby the pizza delivery guy, plumber, cab and electrician (this is a rhetorical thought), let’s also make some very credible contacts. When you meet people at social gatherings, it doesn’t mean that all they’re ever going to talk about is your beautiful face and your floral perfume. And damn no they won’t talk about your classy shoes and dress for the rest of their lives.

Make contacts of people you believe could turn out to mentor you, coach you if need be on some of your future goals. Some important people always show up in the most irritating ways so watch out how you handle and speak to them. I met this one guy in Zambia last year while at work who behaved all ways unlike the title he held going by the business card he handed me. I tolerated his very annoying talk for half an hour and then I decided to switch his attention to the kind of work he does with the telecom company in his country. It was at that point we begun to talk about more sensible matters. Three months later he connected me to people in my line of work that I could work with in Zambia. The returns from these connections have been very positive.

This takes me back to the question, what contacts are you saving in your cellphone? And how do you handle people you know could make sense to you but your first impression of them when you meet them is different. Be wise and mind your language. That said, a smart phone holds over 500 contacts, is Internet enabled. What are you reading about? Who are you speaking to? And importantly who do you have saved in your contacts? You alone decide… when the decision is made, make very good use of the important ones.

And while at it, remember, nobody has authority over your cellphone…but let not this gadget give everyone the right to reach you when they got absolutely nothing to enrich your life with. Enough said.

Twitter: @JoyDoreenBiira

[email protected]