Overcoming Frustration with Technology

Home
>
letussell.com
>
Overcoming Frustration with Technology

10c6

Overcoming Frustration with Technology

For whatever reason, when we get a new boost in productivity, whether that be from a tool, technology or technique...we quickly forget how much more efficient it's made us. It's human nature. It's like the commuter who gets angry about how bad traffic is, but forgets what a pain it was to wait for the bus. Or the cell phone user who complains about a bad connection, and forgets about the days when he had to fish for spare change to make a call from a pay phone.

It's much the same with technology.

If your plan for your online business is in a long term one, there's no getting around it: You will have to find a way to overcome the frustrations you will have with technology. It's inevitable.

Here are some simple tips for dealing with the frustration

Slow down.

Let's start with an analogy: When you're driving a car at 100 miles per hour, a small thing like a bumblebee hitting the windshield can cause you to lose control and crash. How does this translate to online frustration?

When you're straining your systems and technology to work faster and better for you, the smallest technical glitch can have a bigger impact on your performance than seems logical. That's because you are pushing for "more, faster and better" in the first place.

The solution is to slow down. What this means for you as a carbon-based being is: take a stretch break, breathe a couple deep breaths and generally loosen up. Lighten your grip on the intensity you are trying to sustain, both for yourself and your systems.

Concretely, this may mean taking care of your email just a little bit slower. Typing not quite as fast. Or giving yourself an extra hour to set up your new audio recorder. The extra time spent is worth it if it means you don't have to clean up a tangle later. This may seem counterproductive, but it gives your tools time to do their work for you. Sometimes you have to slow down to get to your destination sooner.

Change channels.

Online frustration is something most people experience from time to time, and this includes your suppliers or contractors. If you have a virtual assistant, you likely know this first hand. The next time you, a colleague or assistant experiences frustration with technology, suggest they "change channels". This means exactly what you think it means, that is, switch tasks.

If your technology is acting up, try switching to an activity that comes naturally to you before going back to solve the problem. There's no point forcing something to work when it is resisting you. Go where the energy is flowing by changing channels.

"Remember when."

Yes, a little reminiscing can be the perfect medicine when you're struggling with technology. As you try to set up your email account for the 12th time, consider the fact that just 10 years ago, thousands of small business owners did not have email, and did all their correspondence by mail, telephone or fax. Do you remember your "mail inbox" in the last office you worked in? How about letter openers, overflowing voicemail boxes or wet sponges to seal piles of envelopes? Remember when we used to get paper cuts on a regular basis?

With the increasing growth of the personal development movement in the last 10 years, many of us have learned to become more self-aware and handle anger, frustration and other strong emotions with techniques such as meditation, journaling or even prayer.

But because the Internet is a new-ish modality, sometimes we forget to apply these relaxation techniques to handle "cyber" stress. The next time you have the technology blues, stop. Don't struggle. Instead, become child-like -- slow down and enjoy, play awhile, and laugh a little about the wonder of it all.

Andrea J. Lee coaches entrepreneurs and online business owners. As Thomas J.Leonard's General Manager, she helped build and manage the largest network and trainer of personal and business coaches in the world. Now the CEO of Andrea J. Lee Group of Companies, she writes, speaks and consults on Marketing, Internet and Business systems. For more helpful tips, visit www.39lessons.com

f3c

In The News:

Softpress improves Freeway ecommerce offering
Macworld UK, UK - 3 hours ago
... The update includes easy-to-use ecommerce solution, the Freeway Shop. The update includes easy-to-use ecommerce solution, the Freeway Shop. ...

Golf Galaxy Cuts Guidance
123Jump.com, FL - 20 minutes ago
Golf Galaxy, specialty golf retailer, cut Monday its Q1 sales guidance, on weakness in its catalog and ecommerce operations and a slower start to the spring ...
Golf Galaxy Revises Guidance for First Quarter and Fiscal 2007 Yahoo! News (press release)
Golf Galaxy Raises Q1 EPS Guidance, Despite Anticipated Revenue ... Trading Markets
Golf Galaxy Revises Guidance for First Quarter and Fiscal 2007 PR Newswire (press release)
all 5 related

Microsoft's Ecommerce Initiatives
Search Engine Watch - May 19, 2006
MSN Shopping = Microsoft's core shopping comparison engine. MSN Shopping covers over 7,000 merchants and 33 million products. The ...

European ecommerce tax laws to be extended
Silicon.com, UK - May 18, 2006
The European Commission wants to extend the existing rules about VAT on European ecommerce transactions. ... The directive on ecommerce took effect on 1 July 2003. ...

Freeway 4.2 adds ecommerce option
MacNN, CA - May 15, 2006
Softpress Systems has released version 4.2 of Freeway Pro and Freeway Express. This update includes the new Freeway Shop, an easy ...

247

Ecommerce Software Streamlines Business Operations
Cheap Web Hosting Directory, CA - May 17, 2006
White Plains, New York - (Cheap Web Hosting Directory) - May 17, 2006 - White Plains, New York-based ecommerce entrepreneur, Marc Goldman, has developed a ...

b9c

More Than 40% of the 500 Largest Ecommerce Retailers Are HACKER ...
Market Wire (press release) - May 17, 2006
NAPA, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 05/17/2006 -- More than 200 of the 500 largest ecommerce sites are HACKER SAFEÂ® certified merchants according to Internet Retailer ...

EC wants more ecommerce VAT
Register, UK - May 17, 2006
The European Commission has proposed extending the provisional ecommerce tax to give it more time to push through permanent legislation. ...

Ecommerce for High Profitability is Focus of UniteU User ...
PR Web (press release), WA - May 19, 2006
Rochester, NY (PRWEB) May 19, 2006 -- Ecommerce solution provider UniteU Technologies (www.uniteu.com) once again brought customers together in late April for ...

ADOTAS
Buy.com Provides HD Ecommerce Showcase
ADOTAS, NY - May 11, 2006
After over three years of development, Buy.com has launched its interactive broadband shopping program, BuyTV. Beginning this week ...

2530

25ab

Overcoming Frustration with Technology

letussell.com letussell.com