Settings: Airplane Mode Activated by pouwerkerk

Last Friday, like about a million other people around the world, I waited in line for an iPhone 3G at my local Apple Store. You can see that when I finally made it to the promised land after five hours on line, I was a happy camper.

Since then I've spent a ton of time (I am embarrassed to say just how many hours) configuring the device, installing cool applications and figuring out how to integrate it in my busy life. I continue to be awestruck by how much power we can pack into our pockets these days. The iPhone 3G, as well as Blackberries, Windows Mobile phones and Treos, all are essentially mini computers. It doesn't matter which flavor you choose. Having any mobile device that can connect to the Internet at broadband speeds is a game changer. (Note: Palm is an Edelman client.)

That said, it didn't take this web addict long to realize however, that there is a major downside to all this speed and power - namely, battery life. It's abysmal over 3G networks. Spend just a few hours browsing the web on the iPhone 3G and the battery will run down really really fast.

Then I had an epiphany. In our age of constant connectivity constraints are our friend, not an enemy. I have since tried a number of options to extend my battery life. But I have found an even better option - putting the phone in Airplane Mode.

This might seem like crazy talk for email addicts, but I have found it quite liberating. In flight mode, you are totally unreachable. The email stops collecting. The phone doesn't ring. And, best of all, the web is not there to distract you. It recreates the experience of being on an airplane, where the most web addicted among us get the most work done!

I am starting to put my iPhone in Airplane Mode at certain times of day for brief bursts so that I can focus on answering emails, updating my to do lists, outlining blog posts and even reading important articles I have cached for offline access using Instapaper and Netnewswire. The upside is that it extends my battery life dramatically!

In the mobile age, this simple lifehack is one of a number of ways we're going to have to implement to cope with the firehose of information coming our ways. Our own sanity and productivity depends on it.