5 Useful Blackberry Tips and Tricks to Boost Your Productivity
(Source: edans)
If you have a Blackberry, chances are you picked it up, and started emailing right away. If you have a personal email management system, your Blackberry can be a real asset to your productivity.
Did you know, there are several time-saving features built in, and several tricks you can do to make your Blackberry even more useful? Here are 5 of my favorites…
#1: Master the Keyboard Shortcuts
Just like on a computer, the keyboard on a Blackberry is full of time-saving shortcuts. Here are my favorites:
- “I” - Hit the letter “I” when looking at email in your “inbox view,” or when reading an actual email to file it. If you’re already using my plan for getting control of your email, then you know the importance of filing email to achieving an empty inbox.
- “0″ - Hold down the “0″ (i.e. zero) button and then use the thumbwheel to select multiple emails when in your “inbox view.”
- “Del” – Use this to delete email you don’t need after highlighting it in “inbox view” – to speed this up even more, you can also remove the delete confirmation.
- “C” - Hit the letter “C” when looking at your email in your “inbox view” to compose a new message.
Be sure to check out my “6 Blackberry Tips for Reading Emails” post with additional keyboard shortcuts too!
#2: Setup Your Blackberry to Work Well with Voicemail
- In my 10 Tips to Improve Your Voicemails post, I discussed setting up speed dial hot keys (Tip #6), making logging into voicemail easier (Tip #7) and forwarding your voicemail (Tip #8) to one voicemail box.
- If you use your Blackberry as a phone, be sure to put all of these to work for you!
#3: Get Google Maps for Mobile
- One of the most useful apps you can download for your Blackberry is Google Maps.
- With a simple search (i.e. “breweries in Duluth, MN”), you will get results on a map, turn-by-turn directions, and one-click to call the business you looked up.
- If you do any business travel at all, it’s an absolute must. I’m sure it will quickly become one of your favorite apps!
#4: Reorder Your Apps in Order of Most Popular
- If you hold down the “Alt” key (below “a”) when clicking on an app, a pulldown menu will appear where you can select “Move Application.”
- Then, you can order the apps in any way you want! I put my most used apps right next to each other to minimize scrolling.
#5: Update Your Blackberry Email Signature
- Your email signature is a valuable “one stop shop” of contact info so people can get a hold of you.
- Make sure you always use the same signature on your Blackberry that you do in your main email (usually MS Outlook).
- That way, readers of your email are less likely to pre-judge your message (“Oh, she’s stuck in an airport and dumping ideas again!”), and they are less likely to know where/how you sent it.
- It’s also a great idea to remove all “Sorry if this is misspelled, I’m on a Blackberry” messages. That’s like a website having an “under construction” page – it’s just not necessary. Plus, it makes you look like you can’t spell.
Bonus Tip! #6 – How to Dial “Letter-Based” Phone Numbers on Your Blackberry
Ever want to call one of those alpha-numeric phone numbers, like 800-QUICKEN, but can’t find a “land line” dial pad to figure out what numbers to hit? Fear not! Thanks to Ron O’Connor, at Quicken Loans, you now have the answer: use the “alt” key + the letter to dial the numerical equivalent of the letter! For example, to dial the letter Q, just hit “alt-Q” and your Blackberry will show you the Q, but enter a 7.
I hope these tips and tricks prove useful for you. If you’re reading this and thinking, “but he didn’t mention…” then please, leave a comment!
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Posted in: Communication Skills, Internet Business Skills, Personal Development
[...] to dotconnector, why don’t you try on a handful of Blackberry Tips for size? I have the ‘Curve’ and am also in Canada so I’m not sure if every tip [...]
Note from Regis:
Some people have reported that holding down the letter “i” in newer versions of the Blackberry launches a prompt to associate that letter with a speed dial phone number. So, be sure to just tap the letter “i” instead of holding it down.
[...] use) in your daily routine. Are you online a lot? Do you have a web browser on your phone or Blackberry? If so, I’d recommend using the tips below with Backpack. Are you less concerned with the [...]
[...] 22, 2008 · No Comments In my previous post, 5 Useful Blackberry Tips and Tricks to Boost Your Productivity, I covered some of my favorite overall tips. In this, and future posts, I will be going deeper into [...]
[...] 5 Useful Blackberry Tips and Tricks to Boost Your Productivity If you have a Blackberry, chances are you picked it up, and started emailing right away. Did you know, there are several time-saving features built in, and several tricks you can do to make your Blackberry even more useful? Here are 5 of my favorites… [...]
[...] 5 Useful Blackberry Tips and Tricks to Boost Your Productivity [...]
I fail to see how having to learn a new keyboard/command method for a communication system that is an accessory to one’s actual assignments is a time saver. This industry is driving us, not the other way around. If I already know how to type and spell at a good speed why should I have to learn phonetics that slow me down and make word spelling errors? If I already had all my contacts in a system why should they have to be re-entered using another system? If I effectively manage my email now why must I spend 3 or 4 weeks adjusting my methods to a new technology? I got my Blackberry and it was loaded up to the gills with games trivia and music—which I then had to eliminate. This is not about work it’s about the latest toys.
Don’t get me wrong–I have a Mac Pro at home, use portable projectors and laptops for presentations, use photography systems, use a Microsoft system at work and have cell phones, multiple, for travel. The Blackberry may “look” sexy but it’s user friendly functionality is less than that of the old style Palm that I bought my disabled daughter several years ago.
Hi Cynthia – I think you’re really getting to a bigger issue about how the communication tools we use, how we use the web, our profiles online, etc. all need to converge in a much better way than they do today. I completely agree. However, until that happens (I think it will take many years), I think it’s critical to leverage those things that make our current tools as easy to use as possible through things like keyboard shortcuts, add-ons, plugins, etc.
[...] 5 Useful Blackberry Tips and Tricks to Boost Your Productivity [...]
I agree with your excellent tips and Cynthia’s comments. Tools that increase our productivity are the next frontier of mobile technology. Google Maps is a wonderful start but we need intelligence augmentation technologies that keep us focused and help us to make better decisions, rather than frivolous distractions. For instance I have build a GPS Calendar, that monitors your schedule and gets you to important meetings on time (amongst other useful functionality).
Julian Bourne
CEO & Founder, Prompro Inc.
Prompt – On Time, Every Time
[...] 5 Useful Blackberry Tips and Tricks to Boost Your Productivity [...]
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