We are hosting a brand new Guest Writer Gloria Lorenzi who  is an aspiring journalist who graduated in Italy and is currently living and studying in the United Kingdom. She has a real flair for languages and a great passion for technology, which she tries to combine in her articles. Enjoy

Without question, the rise of smartphones has forever changed the way we communicate with one another and interact with the world around us. Just about everything can be accomplished from handheld devices, whether that be checking emails and social media profiles in real-time, streaming videos, or organising work tasks. Let’s weigh the pros and cons of smartphones to determine whether or not they enhance our daily lives:

Pro: Productivity Tools

The ubiquity of smartphone apps on the market today makes it easier to enhance your productivity no matter where you are or what you’re doing. Organise your professional tasks with an app like Conqu and Evernote, and send important documents to work colleagues from the road via the DropBox or Google Drive app. As for your personal errands, you can keep track of your grocery list with the Out of Milk app, or make payments and deposit checks through your local bank’s in-house app. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, so chances are good you can find whatever app you need to make your work and personal life more productive.

Con: Distractions

While smartphones come equipped with some great tools for increasing productivity, they also have the potential to create distractions. A quick search for pertinent information may result in you getting lost down the rabbit hole of Wikipedia articles, YouTube videos, and StumbleUpon content, causing you to waste hours of your time browsing the web for content you never intended to view in the first place.

Pro: Communication Tools

These days, keeping in touch with friends, families, and work colleagues is easier than ever. Social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram make it possible to update your contacts about what’s going on in your life in real-time and to stay informed about what they’re doing, too. Free instant messenger and VoIP and video call services like Skype, Viber, Google Hangouts, and BBM make it easy to do everything from chatting with friends to holding video conferences with colleagues. The best part? All of the above services are available to users free of charge. Needless to say, thanks to our Nokia, Lenovo Mobile or Blackberry, our society has become more connected than it ever was before.

Con: Real Life Negligence

On the flip side, being constantly connected to technology may be hurting our real-life relationships. Think about the number of times you’ve been out with a co-worker or a friend for a meal or drinks, only for each of you to spend the night staring at the screen of your mobile device. Unless you keep your phone ringer on silent, it’s nearly impossible to ignore the sound of a new notification coming in over email, SMS, or social media, isn’t it? The catch-22 of mobile devices is that while they increase our connection to the world around us, they may cause us to shortchange our real-life relationships if we’re not careful.

Conclusion

While smartphones certainly bring many advantages to our everyday lives, they do come with potential pitfalls as well. For the best results, make sure you’re using your smartphone for something productive each time you pick it up, rather than giving into its many distractions.

Author: Gloria Lorenzi