It Causes A Lot Of Frustration When You Don't Think To Do This

      When Technology Costs You Time

      You Weren’t Prepared to Spend

 

It’s the ultimate insult from my app, thumbing its pixel-y techno-nose in my face.  I can almost hear it - virtually laughing over my desperate glances at the clock.

I’m surely not the only one who has experienced the frustration of facing a time crunch, only to find there was an overnight update.  That you were forewarned means nothing, because chances are it wasn’t on your mind when you started up your computer. 

Without advanced instruction, you are left to fight your way through a new route to work. What was once done with effortlessness now requires guessing and searching  – just to do a task done automatically a hundred times before.  Sometimes, you are left with the feeling that this was distinctly NOT an improvement.

You see, I tend to think I don’t have time for learning my apps well.  I usually learn just enough to get by.  This can lead to easy overwhelm, trying to figure out how to access a feature.   It’s worse with a major update.

Scheduling Tech Learning Time

Spending that time feels like a poor use of time when I have other seemingly more important things to do.  I’m realizing that to schedule this learning, just as I plan for other ongoing education, would be of great value.

It’s surprising to consider how many apps we interact with on a daily basis.  Consider how many we might be using, just to run our business.  These certainly don’t cover them all:

·        *  Main operating system

·        *  System protection software (anti-virus, mal-ware, etc)

·        *  Email

·        *  Quickbooks

·        *  MS Office

·        *  Website management apps

·        *  Cloud storage apps

·        *  Calendar

·        *  Adobe

Then we have more apps for social media:

·        *  Facebook

·        *  Twitter

·        * Instagram

·       *  LinkedIn

·       *  Pinterest

·       *  SnapChat

·       * YouTube

·       *  Tumblr

·       *   Meetup

·       *  Periscope

Each has a unique interface.  Some aren’t as intuitive as one might wish.

I Can Do This

I found myself often uttering some variation of, “I don’t know how to do that” or “I haven’t figured out how to do that yet.”  One day, when I said that for the third time, it annoyed me.  I’m not helpless!  I can do something about this! 

To be fair, it was over a new cell phone, an upgrade that was three years overdue.   I felt like a brand new smart phone user - it handled that differently.  Yet I wonder what I’m missing because I just get by. 

I think part of what holds me back is I dislike toggling back and forth between screens.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love that I no longer need a bookcase to shelve ridiculously thick program manuals.  However, it was really nice to see the directions while I’m applying them.  It felt easier - faster somehow.

I haven’t addressed things with the gusto I intended, but I need to.  It would probably lower my stress level because it will be easier to accomplish a task (until they throw a massive update in my face anyway.)  

Invest In Whatever It Takes

I need to plan for it.  I need to make the time - or it will never happen.  In some cases, I may need to invest in tutorials or whatever it takes to get up to speed so my limited understanding isn’t holding me back.

What is your biggest challenge with technology?  Do you regularly schedule time for learning?