Earlier in the week, I spoke about how technology has changed our lives.

Technology on the go is one of those things that has changed my life the most. The way I use my phone has gone from just texting my friends, to managing my blog and I even use it in my full time job.

There are many ways I use my personal phone at work – I have my phone set up to my works e-mail account. I have a Whatsapp group with other managers so we can stay up to date. I have a Facebook group that all our store colleagues are connected to and share information. There’s even Facebook groups that are run by my company that all members of a certain department can join – if someone in Scotland has a problem, someone at a London store might be able to help them – and the responses are fast with about 3000 colleagues connected.

My company also have applications you can download. I have an app that gives me customers feedback and one that connects to the store ordering system so I can check stock levels and order more stock. I’ve been known to lay in bed on Saturday morning doing this as I’ve not had time on Friday.

It’s not always been like this. Up until about two years ago, we weren’t allowed to have our phones on us. As a manager, I’d have my phone in my pocket but I would never have it out. To be seen with your phone on you by a colleague was frowned upon. The whole ‘if you’re messing about on your phone, why can’t I’ debate. Even if you were messaging one of your members of staff trying to ask if they could cover a shift because of a sick call.

But a lot has changed over the past few years and we’re seeing more and more managers that are of the next generation. The ones that see the value in having information at your fingertips and are a lot more open minded about it.

We now can have our phone on us for work use. We encourage colleagues to do the same. If a customer asks a question, get your phone out and Google it.

But I guess this brings up the question is – are we merging our personal life and work life together? How easy is it to shut off when we leave work if were able to check e-mails so quickly, or our phones are buzzing with group chats amongst colleagues.

Take a look at this info graph to see the ways a mobile productive employee gets on with their life.

I think it’s a great idea that more companies are allowing the use of mobile phones, because it’s made my work life so much easier, giving me more time to focus on customers and my staff. I just wish there was an easier way to switch off from work while at home though.

Another great way of getting access to all your information on the go is the virtual desktop. Although these haven’t really kicked off yet on a home life basis, I think in the future it will be something we’ll be seeing more and more of, especially for those that aren’t based in a particular office.

We actually run something very similar to a virtual desktop at work. I can walk into any store in the country and log onto to my stores account where there’s our e-mails and all our documents. So if I needed to get hold of a document to print, I could go to the nearest store to me and print it rather than having to drive 30 miles to the store I’m based at.

How do you use technology at your work?