DRAINING YOUR BATTERIES

I’ve had an iPhone for several years now, and that has been a revolutionary experience for me. My iPhone is not just a mobile phone—it is a comprehensive aid in organizing my life. Yes, I use it to make phone calls; but it also is a device through which I can send and receive electronic messages, record upcoming events, and be reminded when those events are approaching. I can store contact information about my family and friends and engage in video conversations with those same family members and friends.

Of course, I’ve discovered that the expanse of the iPhones’ utility is found in the multitude of “apps” (applications) that are available, each of which will allow you to do some particular interaction or exchange through the phone. I can check the weather locally or for some other location of interest. I can check traffic conditions, stock market activity, gasoline prices, and the best places to eat. I can read books, play games, learn foreign languages, listen to music, or view videos. My iPhone can even act as a flashlight whenever I need one. Whenever an app caught my attention, I added it to my iPhone.

As an iPhone user, I found myself reading articles about how to get the most out of my phone. One of the things I have discovered is that each application that is running on my iPhone is drawing power from the phone’s battery. The more active applications I have on my phone, the greater the drain on the phone’s battery—and the more often I have to connect my phone to an electrical outlet to recharge the phone’s battery. My phone almost needed a daily recharge.

A recent article on extending battery life caught my attention. The writer suggested that many of the apps on my iPhone were drawing battery power even though I was not using those apps regularly. The writer guided me in deciding which apps were most important to me, which apps I wanted to respond quickly, and which apps I only used occasionally and could be called up only when I needed that particular application. Following the writer’s advice, I deactivated some of apps that I did not use regularly, I turned off some of the “always on” information sources, and I even deleted some apps that had appeared appealing when I downloaded them but which I rarely used. This appraisal and pruning of apps provided a tripling of my phone’s battery life!

I think there is a life lesson in my iPhone experience. By failing to focus on the most important things in our lives, we drain a lot of our psychic energy. The lack of focus diffuses our energy and lessens our productivity. Failing to focus on the most important issues and areas of our lives allows the inconsequential to overrun the significant. We can become unproductive, frustrated, and purposeless. What inconsequential things are draining your attention, energy, and purpose away from the things that really count? Maybe it is time to turn off some “apps” in our lives and focus on the things that really count.