Charge Consistently

October 2015 — Tip of the Month

There seems to be one thing in common among all my friends whose phones are constantly running out of battery power — they forget to charge them.

It's possible you use your smartphone so much, the battery runs out before the end of the day. Most people, however, only need to charge their phone once a day. If that's you, a consistent charging schedule can help prevent those annoying low battery warnings from appearing at inopportune times.

The best (and most obvious) time to charge your phone is at night. Instead of simply laying your phone on your nightstand, make a habit of plugging it in. No matter how tired or lazy you feel, charge your phone before your climb into bed. You'll be glad you did the next morning. One thing that might help is to buy a clock radio that supports your iPhone or Android device. It provides a nice dock for charging your phone and allows you to wake up to your custom tunes in the morning. Personally, I've found the Sony Clock Radio to be a great inexpensive solution.

If you use a laptop or tablet on a daily basis, you can include charging those devices in your nightly routine as well. Make sure your charger is always readily available and placed in a convenient location. This will minimize the effort of plugging in your device and should help it become part of your nightly routine. I found that buying an extra charger — one for the house and one for my laptop bag — was well worth the cost. Packing an extra power adapter when you travel is a good idea anyway.

So get in the habit of consistently charging your devices before you go to bed. You'll avoid the stress of running low on battery and limit those awkward situations of asking strangers if they have a charger.

- Per Christensson