BECOME AN INSIDER
Get the latest phone updates, tips, free downloads, and more.
Sign Up
Already an Insider? Sign In
Windows phone

Working mom resolutions:

Get out of bed, avoid gridlock, and hit the gym

It’s that time of year again, when the decadence and indulgence of December spar with the resolve to perfect—or at least repair—oneself in January. I’ll confess that in recent years I haven’t been much of a resolution-setter, having a history littered with a depressingly large pile of journals that went unwritten-in and foreign language tapes that went unlistened-to (only 15 minutes a day and you’ll speak perfect Mandarin!).

Last year, we had a two-week-old baby at New Year’s, so our only resolution was to keep everyone eating, sleeping, and in relatively clean clothes. But this year, having made it to my son’s first birthday in one piece, and having returned to working full time, I feel a little like Superwoman. So with my newfound super confidence, I’m going to revisit seasonal goal-setting, keeping my list reasonably short and using my Windows Mobile phone to help increase my chances for success.

My goals are pretty simple and probably echo those of the hundreds of thousands of other women in situations just like mine: to wriggle my way back into my pre-maternity clothes by June and to spend less time negotiating traffic and more time playing peek-a-boo. (Believe me—I really need to take my peek-a-boo game to the next level.) Windows Mobile is going to help me achieve these goals every day; in fact, it already does.

Even before dawn, my mobile phone quietly assists me in starting a typical day without waking my son or my husband. I really appreciate the alarm feature on the phone, as mundane as it might seem, because it’s simple, it’s reliable, and it eliminates the need for a second alarm clock in our bedroom. And the absence of additional cords that are so enticing to toddlers is a major benefit. Using a traditional alarm inevitably wakes up both the dog and the baby, which in the past has derailed my best intentions to get out of the house early. Once the baby’s up, it can be a long detour through diaper changes and soothing before he’s back asleep in the crib and I‘m able to tiptoe out the door. But on my Windows Mobile phone, I can set the alarm to get me up with any combination of flashing lights, vibrations, or sounds, including a customizable alarm.

Here’s how to set your alarm:

  • On the Today screen, click Start > Settings > Personal.
  • In Settings, click Sounds & Notifications. On the Sounds tab, make sure that both the Program box and Notifications box are selected.
    Sounds & Notifications selected in Settings

  • On the System tab, click Clock & Alarms, click the Alarm tab, and then customize the alarm in the way that works best for you.
    System tab with Clocks & Alarms selected.

Note I’m using the AT&T Tilt running Windows Mobile 6.1, but other phones running Windows Mobile should be comparable.

Currently, I’m experimenting with the triple-threat: a combination of an audio alarm (on one of the quieter settings), the flashing light, and the vibrate option.

I’m impressed by the fact that I can tweak the settings so that my wake-up time varies from day to day in accordance with my needs. It’s the small (but oh-so convenient) design features like this that set the Windows Mobile operating system apart from others I’ve used over the years.
Ok, so I’m awake at the right hour and out the door in good time, fueled by coffee and determination. My next challenge in staying on top of my goals is to ensure that I make it to my office using the quickest route, because a wrong turn could set me smack-dab in the middle of a sudden traffic jam that turns my 15-mile morning commute from a 20-minute cruise into a 90-minute ordeal. Getting to work that late would push my whole day back and almost guarantee that I run out of time to hit the gym in the afternoon. Before starting the car, I quickly check one of the local traffic sites on my phone to see which route looks most promising this morning. It’s very easy to do:
  • On the Today screen, click Start > Internet Explorer.
  • Using either the phone’s keyboard or the touch-screen keyboard, enter the URL of the traffic site you want to use. You can also use MSN to find traffic information for your area. (It’s nice that MSN is optimized for mobile devices; non-optimized sites can be somewhat hard to navigate.)
For me it often turns out that I-90 is a better bet for me than State Route 520, and I’ll spend far less time in traffic because I took a moment to check. Checking the traffic each morning is an easy habit to get into, and it gives me another thing to mark as “accomplished” on my list.

I’m not leaving things to chance when I head out in the afternoon either, so I check the traffic site once again. There’s one road that is wide open, and I seize the opportunity to make my way to the gym.

While I can’t use my Windows Mobile phone to actually work the elliptical or run on the treadmill for me, I can use the Microsoft Office Mobile applications to record the length and nature of the workouts I complete and how many calories I burn, as well as dietary information. I can calculate how many workouts and calories burned it will take before I hit my pre-baby weight milestone, and charting my progress gives me the encouragement I need to stick with the program that I’ve devised for myself.

Leaving the gym, I check the traffic one more time on my Windows Mobile phone. By this time we’re at the tail end of rush hour, and I’ve almost made it through the entire day without being waylaid by traffics snarls. I’ve also made progress toward getting into my summer wardrobe and becoming stronger and fitter. Now, if only I can find a Windows Mobile application for peek-a-boo, I’ll really be ahead of the game!
 Was this information useful?  Yes  |  No
E-mail this page