I’m 35,000 feet in the air on a flight from Dubai to Nairobi watching ‘You’re soaking in it,’ a documentary about the new wild west of advertising. Did you know there is new technology using your basic smart phone that can read your emotions? The goal is to know what you want before you do!
Scary huh.
Annnnnnnd that’s why I hear so many people freaking out about technology. You may be one. Do you agree with any of the statements below?
- Technology is for kids
- Technology means disappearing down the rabbit hole watching cat videos for hours
- I’m too ________ (insert adjective: old, tired, overwhelmed, frustrated) to take advantage of tech
- There’s nothing tech could help me with
Oh friend. Hang in there. Keep reading. Seriously.
Here’s some inviolate truths:
- You have some pretty awesome gifts & talents to give to the world (yes you)
- You only have so much time to hone them & offer them up
- Yet flotsam & jetsam (aka tedious, repetitive, time wasting, soul sucking tasks) get in the way over & over for you focusing on those gifts
Can I get an amen!
Because technology is here to stay, why not take the reigns & learn how to harness it instead of it controlling you? Who knows, you just may catch a thief too. Keep reading for how I did just that.
One easy peasy place to start
I’ve got one easy, peasy thing that I promise will help you stop feeling like you’re bowing down to the tech gods & get them working for you.
Dubious? Not sure how tech can help you because you think of tech as watching cat videos on YouTube for hours?
Here’s some magic & music for your ears. Keep reading for ….
- The one thing that will help you nab that sweeeet feeling of ease & efficiency
- That will save time
- With 3 examples that are all free
- And that gives you more time to relax & do the stuff that only your particular bundle of skills, talents & creativity has on offer to the world
The one thing that will help you nab that sweet feeling of ease & efficiency
Stand up vrs stand off.
Too often I see clients jumping on a tech bandwagon with a tool that doesn’t fit their needs or their skill level. So the number one thing to do is figure out where you’re standing with tech so there’s no stand off.
Toe, dip or dive.
- Toe: you’re a beginner & need some really simple tools that you can have up & running in a few minutes. You need a quick win.
- Dip: you’ve got a bit of experience & are ready to go in up to your waist with tools that are a little more complex.
- Dive: you’re all in, ready to dive into tools that are complex.
Which are you? Toe, dip or dive?
Once you know you can match the tools to meet your needs instead of puling out your hair with yet another tech that fails to live up to its promise.
Take your pick from the 3 examples below & get in the drivers seat.
1. Toe: Google alert
- Required sweat & tears: 0
- Minutes to get set up: 5
- Problem it solves; your own personal admin person, Google alerts deliver the kind of info you want, on a topic of your choosing, to your inbox when & how you want it.
- Example: Rock.Paper.Scissors Inc. used to do an annual Humour in the Workplace awards program so I had a Google alert for, you guessed it, humour in the workplace. One day I was clicking on the links Google had sent me. As I read through one in particular I scratched my head in confusion as it was familiar. Very familiar. Would you believe a company in New Zealand had ripped off our entire program & was passing it off as their own? The entire thing! Thank yee Google alerts.
- Next step: go to Google alerts & set up one or more of your choice, for example your name, company, &/or a topic you want more info on. ‘Cause you do want to know when someone’s talking about you online right?
- Next next step: relax as Google does the work for you.
2. Dip: Diigo
- Required sweat & tears: 0
- Minutes to get set up: 15
- Problem it solves: ever cursed at your computer because you couldn’t find that fabulous website, blog or other online resource that you were just looking at last week? Diigo keeps all your online goodies sorted & organized for you plus makes it super easy for you to share them.
- Example: check out this link to see the tools I’ve bookmarked (that’s the official name for Diigo; it’s a social bookmarking tool).
- Next step: go to Diigo & set up an account & start tagging (which is the name for what you’re doing when you save stuff to Diigo). Need some more help? Check out this video.
- Next next step: rest on your (bookmarked) laurels & toast yourself.
3. Dive: Evernote
- Required sweat & tears: 0
- Minutes to get set up: 30 minutes
- Problem it solves: Evernote is a high octane advanced tool that helps you ‘get organized, work smarter & remember everything.’
- Example: Evernote has OCR (optical character recognition) so it can read handwritten documents (I know, amazing right?!). On my list of summer projects is to hire someone to scan the gajillions of recipes I have in so many formats & folders & upload them all to Evernote tagging them with their category (e.g. main dish, slow cooker, picky kiddo eater friendly etc.).
- Next step: if you’re really serious about wanting to use Evernote I highly recommend downloading Alexandra Samuel Harvard Business Review book on Evernote. Then open an account in Evernote & start playing around.
- Next next step: sigh with relief & find new ways of spending all that time you’ll save
So there you have it. Toe, dip or dive. You get to decide. You get to harness tech for your ease & efficiency so you have more time to do the stuff you love while avoiding those annoying, time sucking, soul wasting tedious tasks.
Intrigued? Want to learn more?
I’m teaching an online course on March 27th on how to use tech tools for ease & efficiency. Simply email me laragan (at) rpsinc.ca if you want to know how to get it on the goodies.
- Feedback from a past participant: It was all brilliant. Thank you so much. I feel like I have been given a present and can’t wait to get home and try some of these new tools ~ Here We Are workshop participant
Annnnnnnd take action
- Email me if want more information on my March 27th online course on using tech tools for ease & efficiency
- Take your pick; toe, dip, dive. The choice is yours so get going; pick one & practice. Who knows you may catch your equivalent of a thief in New Zealand.
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