The One Computer Mistake EVERYONE Makes

I’m watching something astonishing.

I just helped someone resolve a computer issue and to test things out she is typing an email.  Every time she begins a sentence she presses the CAPS LOCK key, types a letter, and then presses the CAPS LOCK key again.

I watch her do this several more times.  Rather than holding down the SHIFT key while pressing a letter to capitalize it, she toggles the CAPS LOCK key.

I can’t say that this is a huge loss in productivity, but it seems to me that she would save time over the long run by using the SHIFT key, instead.

I gently say, “You can just hold the SHIFT key while pressing the letter to capitalize the first word of a sentence.”

She stares back at me for a long time looking as if I just asked her to find the square root of infinity.

“I press the CAPS LOCK key,” she replies quietly and definitively.

“O.k.”

And, that was that.

Here’s another quick one.

Gwen, one of the administrative assistants at a law firm, was given an urgent, but boring and tedious job just minutes before she was about to go to lunch.

She had to review word by word, page by page, a 300 page document and change all occurrences of something like “Acme Corporation” to “Smith Corporation”.  She expected that it would take her until the 12th of never to complete the task (and that’s a long, long time).

She was furious…and hungry.

“Gwen, this is what you should do….”

“Joe, I don’t have time to learn something now.  I’m never going to finish this thing!”

“Gwen, let me just show you….”

“Joe!  I said that I don’t have time to….”

“Gwen, you don’t have time NOT to learn this.”

And, as you probably guessed, I showed her how to use the search and replace command to have the computer instantly change all those entries for “Acme Corporation” to “Smith Corporation”.

She was able to get out the door in a few minutes and enjoy a grilled cheese sandwich and egg cream.

(Yes, I was giving computer tips during the 1940s.)

So, the number one computer mistake I see everyone making is not regularly taking the time to learn something new that will help them do more in less time.

At this point maybe you are thinking, “Oh, that’s it?  Big deal.  Time to move on to something else now.”

WAIT!

This is a big deal.  You are not letting the computer do your work for you.
 

REPEAT: You are not letting the computer do your work for you.

That means you are working harder than you need to.

Doesn't it seem like you're working long hours?

Often, I see people spending a lot more time to do their work than they need to.

If I said you could spend $100 to make $1,000, it’s a no-brain-er, right?

It’s the same thing with regularly investing a little time to learn something new on the computer.  You invest a little time learning new ways to do more in less time, and it’s not long before you’re finishing a day’s worth of work by lunchtime.

I think most people equate improving their computer skills to learning things like how to over-clock an Intel quad-core processor or write code in FORTRAN or something.

That’s not what we are talking about.

Want to know which group of professionals typically has an impressive understanding of how to get the most out of their computers?

Sales people.

Most successful sales people know that technology is a powerful ally.

I’ve learned some computer tricks from sales people who expertly leveraged technology to find prospects, close deals and earn big commissions.

Those sales people couldn’t tell me the first thing about how a computer works, but they are very familiar with the technology that helps them find and close deals.  And, they are always on the lookout for new ways they can use technology to maintain an edge.

But, you don’t need to be in sales to benefit from knowing more about your technology.  Anyone can join the club.

The thing about learning new time saving tricks is very few will individually save you a lot of time.  Individually, most computer tips are not very impressive.  But, it’s the collection of ALL the time saving tricks you know that allows you to accomplish more in less time, letting the computer do the work.

Years ago I went kayaking for a week in Glacier Bay, Alaska, with three friends.  There were two men to a kayak.  I was the only one who had never kayaked before. 

My buddy, Andre, gave me a lesson on how to paddle a kayak.  Ten minutes of training and I was ready to kayak the majestic expanse of Glacier Bay!

After a few hours I was miserable.

To ruin anything, just add kayaking.

We had planned to kayak about four hours a day to different places to camp.  My shoulders were sore, I was tired and frustrated, and Andre and I were lagging far behind our friends in the other kayak.  (I committed to a week of this drudgery?)

ANDRE:  Isn’t this amazing!?!

JOE:  Amazing!

Amazing can mean different things to different people.  At that moment to me it meant “THIS AMAZINGLY SUCKS!”

Well, I was stuck in the kayak seat for four hours a day for a week, and I figured that there had to be some technique to paddling, so every time I placed my paddle in the water, I experimented with different way to be more efficient.  Any little thing I could learn that would make kayaking un-terrible, I tried.

In two days we were the lead kayak, periodically pausing so the other kayak could catch up.  And, I actually began having a great time kayaking.  Kayaking in Glacier Bay was amazing!  (AMAZINGLY FUN!)  It wasn’t any one thing I learned that improved my kayaking; it was the TOTAL of all the little things I learned.

Likewise, you are in front of a computer a lot.  Why not take advantage of any opportunity to make your life easier?

Often, people will say that they don’t have time to learn a new computer tip.

I say, you don’t have time NOT to learn something new.

You probably have computer questions right now that you could easily get the answer to and you have one of the most AMAZING resources available.  You can type a question into Google and get an instantaneous response.  No “please allow six to eight weeks for delivery”.  You can have an answer to virtually any question in a fraction of a second.

Amazing.

How often do you take advantage of this incredible free resource to make things easier on yourself?

Maybe you don’t know where to start.

Then, check out my article “The Seven Computer Tips EVERYONE Should Know!”

Don’t have time to read it now?

You don’t have time NOT to read it now.

As Winston Churchill said....

“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”

Interested in professional I.T. support for your office?

Visit my office technology support firm, avenue X group, at www.aXg.com.