Key Takeaways
- Beeper is a free multi-messenger app that combines WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, Signal, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Messenger, Slack, Discord and more into one inbox on iPhone, iPad, Android and desktop.
- Separating private and business WhatsApp accounts — using different SIM cards or phone numbers — helps keep personal and professional communication clearly apart.
- Beeper's paid subscription (around 99 euros per year) unlocks support for multiple accounts of the same service, such as two WhatsApp numbers; the free version is sufficient for a single account per service.
- Voice messages in Beeper can be automatically transcribed into text, saving time when listening to audio messages is inconvenient.
- Turning off almost all push notifications — except for truly urgent channels like SMS and Teams — prevents constant interruptions and protects focused work time.
- Checking emails and messenger apps only at defined times (e.g. end of the day) means you work your own priority list rather than reacting to other people's agendas.
- The concept of the "not-to-do list" is central to productivity: deliberately choosing what not to react to is as important as choosing what to do.
- The "Eat That Frog" principle by Brian Tracy — tackling the most important or difficult task first — is recommended as a morning routine before opening any messaging app.
- Beeper is available on Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad and Android, making it the recommended alternative to the desktop-only Franz multi-messenger.
- Technology should be used actively and proactively; letting notifications and messenger services dictate your schedule means you are working through other people's to-do lists.
Introduction
Welcome to another episode of TJ Technology Tuesday. And today, a very specific tip on how to keep your many short messages and messenger services under control on your smartphone. I don't know how you feel about that.
Avoid WhatsApp and disconnect
I tried to avoid WhatsApp for a long time. I was, I think, one of the last people to go on WhatsApp anywhere in Germany, because you can't park much further out than WhatsApp when it comes to data protection. On the other hand, it has become more and more prevalent. So what are the approaches I would recommend to you on this topic? And I'll take my smartphone with me on the screen. The one thing you can see is that you can see WhatsApp twice on my smartphone, once as private WhatsApp and once as WhatsApp for Business. You can see it here, the two that we are using here. This means that one approach I can recommend is to separate the two. For example, we have a private WhatsApp family group. I have it on my private WhatsApp channel and the private WhatsApp channel is based on my private cell phone number. I have two SIM cards on my cell phone. So I have a physical one, which is my Telekom, my work phone number, and then I have a private eSIM. This number is only known to my closest family and friends and my private WhatsApp is behind it. Behind the WhatsApp for Business, I have my landline number. So that might also be interesting for you. I have some customers who say they don't necessarily want their cell phone number to be everywhere at all times. So I don't want that with my private number in that area either. In the business sector, I have connected it in this way. In other words, you could even say that WhatsApp for Business is linked to a business cell phone number. The only problem is that most people have saved their cell phone number, so I often hear people say: "Oh, I actually wanted to reach you via WhatsApp, but you're not available. That's great, because I don't necessarily have to be reachable by WhatsApp every day of the week. That's the first line of thought.
Beeper as a multi-messenger
The second approach: I have another application here on the left, called Beeper. And Beeper, and I'll go into my app store here, Beeper is a really, really great application. Perhaps one or the other of you knows my recommendation on the subject of Franz as a multi-messenger. The idea of Beeper is ultimately the same, namely that I can combine all kinds of e-mail accounts in one app, just as I can in Outlook or in the Mail Client, for example, or in Spark, I can also pack all kinds of messenger services into one application here with Beeper. In other words, I have WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, Signal, LinkedIn, Twitter and all these things in one application. Why did I switch from Franz to Beeper? Unfortunately, Franz is not available for mobile devices, but you can use it on your Mac and PC. For me, Beeper has the huge advantage that I can also use it, not just on Mac, not just on PC, but also on iPhone, iPad, Android and smartphones. In addition to my iPhone, I now also have a very up-to-date Android phone, an Honor Magic 5. So a big thank you goes to Marco Farnung, who recommended this device to me. It's a very, very great device and there's also a beeper solution for it. This means that when I have the whole thing here in a dual view, I have my favorites here on the left-hand side, which I have here at the top. Then I have my unread messages here and here I am in a thread, for example the one about our house community. So when I collapse here, I have it on a display, just like you can see here on the iPhone. In other words, here on the iPhone I have defined my favorites at the top. That means you can write a note to yourself here. Here I have my wife, my daughter, the family group, my father, my best buddies, Kaiphon Fonier and Thomas Buck, i.e. people with whom I currently communicate a lot via WhatsApp. I have them in my favorites at the top. And the nice thing is that I can see my conversations here and there's the option to go into Inbox and I can say Low Priority. Here I have things like for a credit specialist, for example. So there you have those. Unfortunately, I also have a bit of spam here from time to time. And then up here, when I go into this All area, I can also say that I only want to include the unread ones. Now you have the charm that I have here and now you can see that I have a Discord here, I have a Slack here, I have an Instagram, I have LinkedIn, I have Facebook Messenger, Signal, Telegram, I have my WhatsApp numbers, my X numbers here accordingly. That means I have them all here and I can then say I want to go into one of them or I want to see them all. And the nice thing is that I really have an overview of everything here and can listen to voice messages as well. I can also transcribe voice messages. So that's something that perhaps not everyone has on the channel yet, that if you're in WhatsApp, you can go into the settings if you have a lot of voice messages. And then I have the option here, I think, or chats is it, if I'm not mistaken, transcripts of voice messages, you can just say here, I want to transcribe here. And Beeper also has this option. This means that I can also view voice messages as text. Let's go over to the App Store. That is, here in the App Store you can see it again, Beeper. The whole thing is free of charge. There is also a paid subscription version. You can see it here under the "in-app purchases" when you go in here. It costs 100 euros or 99 euros right here, 99 euros per year here. That's the version I've now subscribed to, because I not only have my private WhatsApp, but also my WhatsApp Business in Beeper. If you only have one WhatsApp account, for example, then the free version is completely sufficient and I recommend starting with the free version anyway.
Manage notifications
Of course, you can also see this again in this context: I don't have any notifications on this device because I clearly say: "If there's a fire, please send me an SMS. I also have the corresponding notifications on it. I have my SMS application here. SMS always has the big advantage, because no matter what, an SMS always gets through. I have a notification on Teams, because I have notifications with my flat trade customers that I support in terms of the C-level for IT sparing, and I always work very closely with them via Teams. I have notifications on my interactive broker app for this topic, for example, if my trading losses are fired or there are other trading signals, then I get "Messt. I have notifications for that. I have a notification for Easy Park and for my push TAN app for banking, so that I don't always have to search for the app when I make a transfer and then a push window practically always opens and then I can press the TAN app and approve the payment. I don't have one for everything else. In other words, you can go into the settings here, into the "Messages" area and in the "Messages" area, if I then look at the application, you can see that almost everything is off here. In other words, even with emails, even with VIPs now, where I say: "If there's a fire, send me an email, because we can't resist this red number. And even with WhatsApp, you don't always have to respond. In my environment, everyone knows that if there's a fire, text me. I also get a corresponding notification. Otherwise, I check my emails at the end of the day. When I'm with customers, I check everything at the end of the day. And with WhatsApp, I usually also check it at the end of the day, if I'm waiting for certain things, I also check it two or three times in between. But not just at the beginning of the year, but in general.
Productivity and completion
Productivity doesn't come from doing more, but rather from the not-to-do list. And this invention of this red number from Blackberry was really a pretty stupid idea in my opinion. Yes, in this sense you remain open to new technologies, but you retain control. In other words, productivity arises above all when you use technology actively and proactively and don't let yourself drift. Because if you don't just start with the emails in the morning, but also with the messenger services, then you are working through other people's to-do lists. And that's not the idea, but in the morning the theme of "Eat that frog" by Brian Tracy always applies, the crappiest task of the day first and then the B task, namely the one that will help you in the long term, the one that is important but not yet urgent, which is extremely important, especially for managers. And I hardly think that as a board member, as a managing director, you have to answer an IT ticket immediately, that you have to block cards. These are all things where an immediate response to a message is of course important, but you usually have relatively few of them, especially in the management sector. Against this background, as always: first switch on the brain, then the technology.
Yours, Thorsten Jekel.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Beeper and what does it do?
Beeper is a multi-messenger application that combines many different messaging services — including WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, Signal, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Messenger, Slack and Discord — into a single inbox. It is available on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac and PC, making it easy to manage all messages in one place.
Is Beeper free to use?
Beeper offers a free version that is sufficient if you have only one account per messaging service. A paid subscription costs around 99 euros per year and unlocks features such as connecting multiple accounts of the same service, for example two separate WhatsApp numbers.
Why is Beeper recommended over Franz?
Franz is a multi-messenger tool available only on Mac and PC, whereas Beeper also runs on iPhone, iPad and Android smartphones. For anyone who wants to consolidate their messenger services across all devices — including mobile — Beeper is the more versatile choice.
How can I separate private and business WhatsApp on one phone?
One practical approach is to use two SIM cards — a physical SIM for your business number and an eSIM for your private number — and link each to a separate WhatsApp account. WhatsApp for Business can be connected to a landline or secondary number so your personal mobile number stays private.
Can Beeper transcribe voice messages?
Yes, Beeper has a built-in option to transcribe voice messages into text. This means you can read the content of audio messages instead of having to listen to them, which is especially useful in situations where playing audio is not convenient.
What is the recommended notification strategy for messengers?
The recommendation is to turn off almost all push notifications and only keep alerts for truly urgent channels — such as SMS and, where relevant, Microsoft Teams. For everything else, including WhatsApp and email, checking at defined times (such as the end of the working day) is more productive than reacting to every incoming message.
What is the "not-to-do list" and how does it relate to messaging?
The not-to-do list is the idea that productivity comes not just from doing more, but from consciously deciding what not to do or react to. Applied to messaging, this means deliberately not checking messenger apps or emails first thing in the morning, so you start the day working on your own priorities instead of other people's requests.
What is the "Eat That Frog" principle mentioned in the episode?
"Eat That Frog" is a productivity concept by Brian Tracy that recommends tackling the most difficult or most important task of the day first thing in the morning. The second priority is then the B task — something important for the long term but not yet urgent — before turning to reactive activities like checking messages.
How can managers in particular benefit from controlling messenger notifications?
Senior managers and executives rarely need to respond to an IT support ticket or block a card immediately — those urgent cases are relatively few. By reducing messenger notifications to only genuinely critical alerts, managers can protect their time for strategic thinking rather than constantly reacting to operational messages.
Why is SMS still highlighted as a reliable emergency channel?
SMS has the advantage of reaching the recipient regardless of which messaging apps or notification settings are active. For truly urgent matters — what the episode calls "if there's a fire" situations — SMS is recommended as the one channel that should always have notifications enabled.
Tools & Resources Mentioned
- Beeper – Multi-messenger app combining WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Messenger, Slack, Discord and more; available on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac and PC. Free version available; paid subscription ~99 euros/year.
- Franz – Desktop-only multi-messenger for Mac and PC (no mobile app); mentioned as the predecessor tool that Beeper replaces for mobile users.
- WhatsApp for Business – Business-focused variant of WhatsApp that can be linked to a landline or secondary number to keep the personal mobile number private.
- AI & Productivity – Further tips on using technology actively and productively.
- Microsoft 365 – Microsoft Teams is mentioned as one of the few apps where push notifications are kept active for close customer collaboration.
