These hacks are pretty useful for everyone, but as a mum I spend a lot of the time catching time between things to catch up on life admin so have found these hacks really useful. They are applicable to iphones, but maybe androids as well. 

CAPTION YOUR PHOTOS ON IPHONE TO MAKE THEM SEARCHABLE

A lot of people don’t know that you can search your photos I think such as location and date but sometimes you might be looking for a photo all might want to save a photo that is very specific. An example is my glasses prescription below.

 
Pretty cool huh but how did I do it? It’s more complex to rename the actual image however did you know that you can add a caption to your photo which is searchable. This is how you do it have a look at the picture below.

1. Open photos

2. scroll to under photo

3. click on caption and type your own

4. done

This is especially useful when you want to save things such as specific receipts, business cards, restaurant menus etc and you want to be able to quickly retrieve them by search.

VOICE DICTATION & SHORTCUTS

My life has never been the same since I discovered this feature. In fact I am using it right now. It’s great to be able to quickly reply to messages without having to type and the dictation is surprisingly accurate on my iPhone. you can also use certain phrases to get your grammar right. 

Say “full stop” for a stop

Say “new line” for new line

Say “new paragraph” for new paragraph.

Here are some more common dictation commands that work.

• Quote/end quote: begin and end a quote.
• New paragraph: start a new paragraph.
• New line: begin a new line.
• Cap: capitalise the next word.
• Caps on/caps off: capitalise the first character of each word.
• Smiley: insert :-)
• Frowny: insert :-(

The funny thing is that sometimes I find myself actually saying the word “full stop” when I am leaving a voice message for someone 😂. You might also need to go back and check and edit if you don’t want to accidentally type something really embarrassing! 

When dictating, say “All Caps” to capitalize all of the next word you dictate. So, “All Caps Happy Tuna” will type, HAPPY tuna. If you just want to capitalize the first letter of the next word, say, “Caps,” and Siri will take care of it for you. “Upper Case” will capitalize the next character, which can be handy when spelling out acronyms. You can also just say “Caps On” to enable caps lock, and “Caps Off” to disable it. If you say, “Numeral” and then the number, Siri will type the digit, rather than the spelled out letter. So, “Numeral five” will get you “5,” not “five.”

This does take little getting used to but is well worth the investment. 

USING EMOJIS 😊

This seems like a really obvious thing to do, but I find when I use emojis it is so much better for expressing emotion in my texts especially if it is something that may not be received the right way. If you are in town about your tone in a text because you were in a rush to write it then a few emojis are always great to convey a softer message especially when communicating with your spouse. 

SET UP MULTIPLE FACE RECOGNITION PROFILES

Have you ever wanted to check your bank account first thing in the morning without your glasses on but your phone doesn’t recognise you? I’m sure I’m not the only one! This happened to me a lot until I decided to also add another picture of myself into my security recognition program on my phone so it can’t recognise me with or without my glasses on. This saved me lots of time stabbing around looking for my glasses! 

To do this just go into settings and Face ID and password, and add an additional photo there using a mask option.

SWIPE RIGHT FOR MOST FREQUENTLY USED APPS

Most people already know about this on the iPhone but just in case you don’t if you swipe right rather than left you can arrive at a screen which will hold all your most frequently used apps.

At the top of that same screen you can also search for an app which for me is a very quick way to get to an app that otherwise I might need to scroll around looking for on my phone. 

WEAR YOUR PHONE ON A LANYARD

It is a known Mum thing to wear your phone attached to a landlord around your name. Mine is a brand called Xou Xou. It is not only a fashion statement, but it is also extremely practical for you to use your phone in small bursts. Rather than rummaging through your bag is always around your neck. This is a very important thing in Mum land.

 USE A PASSWORD MANAGER APP TO KEEP TRACK OF ALL YOUR PASSWORDS

Stop having to reset passwords because you have forgotten them. Use a password manager app such as this one detailed on an article HERE to save many frustrating hours per month searching for passwords for the hundreds of different online stores, bank accounts, utility companies etc that you use to run your life. The usefulness of the app is only as good as your ability to enter in the passwords but once they are there your life will never be the same again. I use one called Msecure which i find really good it is free, but if you want to be able to access/sync it from both your laptop and device then you need to pay, but for me this would be worth the money.

 SUMMARY OF HOW TO SAVE TIME USING YOUR PHONE

1. Caption key photos to make them easily searchable
2. Use voice dictation to write texts/messages/lists
3. Use emoijs (a picture tells a thousand words)
4. Set up multiple face recognition profiles
5. Swipe right for most frequently used apps
6. Wear your phone on a lanyard
7. Use a password manager app

These tips above come directly from my own experience, looking after my two kids AND running my business Goodordering, mostly from my phone. I haven't even got into the actual apps that i use to make my life better, less stressful and save me time so i can engage in doing things i really enjoy. If you have any other hacks for saving time as a parent, please feel free to share them with me.