I’ll be perfectly honest with you, I’m a little tired while writing this. I was trying to figure out a post for this week, so I went through my list of unused post ideas and found this. The title made me laugh, as I was feeling a little run-down myself. So I figured it was appropriate.
One of the things that we worry about (and I’ve certainly heard from many people over the past few years) is how concerned people are about the battery life of their devices. This is not surprising. We are using our devices more and more, and battery life can only do so much when we rely on our devices for our entire lives. I know that I have a couple of different ways to change my devices when I’m stationary for an extended period of time. At my desk, I have a charger which keeps my phone alive while I’m working, I have a charger on my nightstand to keep my phone alive while I’m sleeping, and I even have a charger near my couch so that while I’m watching TV, my phone doesn’t get too low power. I’m one of those people who doesn’t like it when my battery level drops below 20%. I don’t think that I “panic” when it happens, but I’m not wild about it happening either. That being said, running your battery down actually has benefits for your devices.
1) Running it down prolongs battery life – This sounds counterintuitive, but bear with me here. Batteries are actually designed to drop down. Not allowing the battery to run out makes it more likely that the battery will last longer, because it can stop functioning for a while. Think about it this way: you decide to run a marathon, and when you’re 200 feet from the finish line, someone hands you an energy drink and says, “When you’re done with this, would you mind pulling a double shift at work?” You would throw the drink at the person and collapse on the finish line. The same applies to batteries for your devices. They need rest and recovery time, which is why running them down allows them to recuperate.
2) Makes it more reliable (percentage sensor) – I had an issue a few years ago where my phone would show that I had 50% of my battery life left, and then suddenly shut down. It started to drive me crazy that I would charge it all night, and then it would do this to me. I brought my phone to the store, and they explained that if I didn’t let my phone’s battery run down every once in a while, then the battery indicator would not work correctly. This means that letting your battery run down will provide a more accurate indicator of the battery level on your devices.
2) Allow them to fully recharge after – Something I learned fairly early in my tech career is how mobile devices work. It’s cool, but when you “shut down” your computer, it doesn’t actually fully shut down. It goes to about 1%, so that when you press the power button, it knows to turn back on again. This can be a valuable feature for devices that have some battery life remaining, but for those that have fully run down, they need to charge for a while before they can actually turn back on. For those who are “patience lite” (raises hand), this can be mildly frustrating because when you plug something in, it should work, right? Unfortunately, in order to recognize that the machine needs to be turned on when you press the power button, it needs to have enough power to do that. When you’ve run your device’s battery down, that can take time. Best to let it charge for a while before attempting, or else (and this is experience talking here) you will quickly become frustrated at your device “not working.”
We spend so much of our time on our devices that it makes sense to want devices that work properly (and for as long as possible). Running your battery down is one of the many things that is needed to maintain your technology so that you can use it efficiently. There are two kinds of people in the world: the ones who live their lives on the edge and don’t feel the need to charge their devices until they are down to about 2%, and the ones who freak out if their devices get below 50%. If I’m being honest, I fall into the second grouping, but I do try to run my batteries down to keep them going longer. If you’re like me and prefer to have a full battery at all times, try to run your battery down every once in a while. It will do wonders for the long-term battery life, and your devices will actually last longer.
Do you run your battery down?
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