How to discover your tech personality (yes this includes you)

Nothing ramps up anxiety more than tech. It can feel like everyone else has mastered it except you (cue the poignant, cute kid video). And what’s more, today’s tech tools are public.   Make a mistake & it’ll haunt you for the rest of your life (or so it feels).

I’m thoroughly captivated by Martha Beck’s Four-Day Win book. It’s about our relationship to food but it can be applied to SO much more. The basis of her unorthodox, hilarious writing is the trans theoretical model of change, which can be applied to most anything.

I know, it sounds complicated, dull or dry but I assure you it’s anything but. Hang with me. Here’s my take on using that theory of change on the issue of you (yes you) using tech tools with ease, efficiency, & dare I say bliss by discovering your tech personality.

There are 4 steps to effecting change …

in the trans theoretical model (there’s actually a few more steps but we’re going to focus on the first 4):

1. Pre-contemplation – I have no intention of changing
2. Contemplation – I’m thinking of changing
3. Preparation – I’m getting ready to change
4. Action – I’m actually making a change

Watch for turtles, armadillos, ducks & dolphins.

You & I are going to use the trans theoretical model of change to identify your tech personality. Then we’ll build on it so you can use my toe, dip, dive, swim model of using tech tools for ease & efficiency.

Each of the four stages below describes:

• How to know if you’re in that stage,
• How you feel & think about tech,
• A related animal,
• What you need to know to lift the anxiety, stress & overwhelm &
• Your mission, should you choose to accept it, in order to move forward.

Here we go. Here’s how to identify your tech personality based on the trans theoretical model of change.

1. Pre-contemplation phase

• Overall: you hate tech, it makes your toes curl, your heart hammer & you’re restraining yourself from clamping your hands over your ears while yelling lalalalala so you can tune me out
• Feeling: you’re resistant & irritable when it comes to tech tools
• Animal: think of it like a turtle coming out of its shell – there’s a whole new, cool world out there.
• What you need to realize: you’re not alone. There are LOTS of other turtles in the pond plus you can always duck back into your shell if needed.
• Your mission should you choose to accept it: dip your toe (or claw in case of said turtle) into tech tools. Check out a tool like Unsplash where you can get gorgeous photos for free on most any topic. Amp up your next PowerPoint or pretty much any place you need a great image.

2. Contemplation phase

• Overall: Like a freezing cold lake, when you hear the word tech tools you gird your loins, hold your breath, let loose a few cuss words & ease in.
• Feeling: you’re cautiously curious
• Animal: you’re an armadillo. You’re moving forward. Grab a branch & float down the stream (remember you’ve got your hard shell if need be).
• What you need to realize: let the stream do the work for you, let go of the edge & move with the current. You got this.
• Your mission should you choose to accept it: take a spin with a tool like Diigio, which saves all your digital resources in one place. Here’s my account for you to take a dip & swim around in fun.

3. Preparation phase

• Overall: when you hear the word tech tools you mutter to yourself ‘bring it on’. Like a refreshing dip in a summer stream, as long as you have your floaty & lifejacket near by you’re good.
• Feeling: you’re interested, engaged, excited
• Animal: you’re a duck. Like water off a duck’s back (sorry couldn’t resist) you’re drawn to tech tools.
• What you need to realize: explore various tributaries of said stream. Paddle down a different channels dive in deep & explore the terrain. There’s wayyy more tools & ways to use those tools than you can imagine.
• Your mission should you choose to accept it: Dive in to Diigo & create your own account so you can start saving & easily sharing your plethora of online resources.

4. Action phase

• Overall: when you hear the word tech tools you get a swimmer’s high & you just want to keep on keeping on.
• Feeling: you’re thoroughly motivated & experienced
• Animal: you’re a dolphin. You’re sleek & sophisticated when it comes to tech tools.
• What you need to realize: celebrate! Seriously, give yourself a high five. Keep on keeping on, plus think of lending your experience to others.
• Your mission should you choose to accept it: Keep swimming with a serious look at your metrics. There is no end of data now for Facebook, LinkedIn, twitter, YouTube etc. The latter for example, tracks how long people are watching your videos & when attention starts to nod off. Seek out the stories your data is trying to tell you. For example dive into a tool like Hootsuite.

Regardless whether you’re a turtle (pre-contemplation), armadillo (contemplation), duck (preparation) or dolphin (action phase), don’t follow in someone else’s wake. Make your own. Create a list of what tech needs you have &/or what things you’re exasperated by & then look for how tech tools can help bring you sweet ease & efficiency.

Plus consider signing up for my online course; From Overwhelm to Organized; Technology Tips & Techniques to Serve You November 8 @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm EAT (East Africa Time zone) click here to convert to your time zone if need be.