Carroll County Times Articles
Get Your Technological Life Under Control
by Josh Kohn – November 19, 2006
Remember When Faxes Were Considered Fast?
Technology has created the "instant" society. Have you ever gotten frustrated because someone sent you an email and it didn't arrive as soon as they got off the phone with you? Isn't it frustrating that your waiter or waitress takes 15 minutes to get your food?
Come on folks, we need to get a hold of ourselves! Try to recall what life was like before high technology jumped into the picture. Remember when faxes where remarkably fast? Now, they seem rather hum-drum. Life on “fast-forward” 24/7 is not the way were meant to live. There are ways to combat the insanity, and this article will discuss how to get technology under control.
Information Addiction
More and more people in the business world are finding that they are addicted to information and communication. For example, the Blackberry phone, commonly referred to as the "Crack-Berry". Once you learn the nuances of using your thumbs for typing, there isn't anywhere that you can be without keeping in touch with the office. Then there's plain old email, which isn't that old. The Internet didn't really start coming into its own until 1995. Therefore, we have only had email for about 10 years, but imagine doing your job with out it. I can't.
Email is a constant culprit of pain and pleasure. Oftentimes, people use email to confront others in situations where they would not stand up to them in person. Email etiquette is critical. It's easy to misread someone's note and think they are yelling at you, when in essence they are just trying to make a point.
Here's another addiction: Overnight Delivery. Do you really need that book the next day by 8:30 a.m.? Is it really worth spending $30 to get it the next day? Imagine how much money we could save if we didn't expect things so quickly? Then there's the pressure to deliver on business services instantly. I know from personal experience that if we don't print it overnight, someone else will.
We Need to Set Our Priorities
Yes, sometimes overnight is critical, but let's reserve that for when we really need it. Not to be politically incorrect, but those that believe we need to pull out of Iraq overnight are dreaming You just can't do some things that quickly, but we have been brainwashed into believing that everything can be done "over night". Life can't be properly developed when things are glossed over just to make them quick. Here are several suggestions on how to get your technological life under control:
Suggestions
- Pick up the phone and call your contact instead of emailing them.
- Just because you are juggling 10 things at once, doesn't mean all of them need to be completed overnight. Save some for tomorrow.
- Balance your work and life at home (Read Todd Burrier's book "Live Full Live Well" Todd's from Carroll County www.balanceprofessor.com)
- It's okay to screw up sometimes. Just make sure you fix it when you do.
- Don't lose track of family. (I should talk, I'm writing this at 6:40 p.m. when I should be home.)
- Leave the cell phone at home every once in while. We've only had cell phones for 15 years, what did you do before?
- Buy a good old book at the book store and read it the old fashion way.
- Write a letter with a pen. Remember the post office?
- Write a thank you note by hand to one of your customers or co-workers. They will be shocked.
- Shut off the dog-gone computer for the week end!
I'm still working on my addiction. I'm going cold turkey this week end and attending a LIVE play. You know, the entertainment that's not on TV.
About the Author
Josh Kohn is the co-owner of Kohn Creative and member of the Carroll Technology Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating businesses, government and residents about technology issues. Questions are welcomed and may be addressed in future articles. Email advisors@carrolltechcouncil.org or go to www.carrolltechcouncil.org for a list of Advisor categories.
The viewpoints expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Carroll Technology Council.
