Tips For The Overwhelmed Techy Want-To-Be

Feeling overwhelmed?  Wasn’t all this technology supposed to make life easier and less hectic?  Has it really done that for you, or do you find yourself trying to manage all the new goodies and gadgets?  I had to laugh this morning as I was reading a post from a friend of mine frantically looking for advice on how to dry out her 9 year olds iTouch after it presumably “fell” into the toilet.  And, wouldn’t you know, there were several comments about just how to do it!  Now that's collaboration!  No doubt there were some of us that may have been tempted to flush it and be done with for good!

But, that’s not really an option is it?  Technological advancement is here to stay.  But, we certainly struggle finding a balance with the cool factor and implementation into the normal rhythm of life.  Steven Anderson provides some sage advice that, although targeted at first year teachers, can help us to think this technology thing through and begin to develop our own strategies to deal with it. 

1.    Don’t try to do everything at once.  Pick one or two things and do them well so they become ingrained into your routine.  Then add something else.  Thinking we can do 5-6 things at the same time is not realistic.  Something will eventually have to give.

2.   If you are a techy and use these tools in a learning environment (or just at home), remember your audience.  Sometimes, less is more.  Just because you think it’s cool and very helpful, not everyone will.  Also, just because you can handle ten new ideas at one time, does not mean everyone can.  Look up, check out the faces of the people around you, are their eyes rolling into the back of their heads?  Time to stop and see how they are doing.  That means they are on overload.

3.   Everyone is overwhelmed.  You are not alone.  But, when you do, it’s your responsibility to step back and re-evaluate.  What is important to you, what are your priorities and how does technology fit into them.  Not how do I fit my priorities around technology.  It’s supposed to support us, not take us away from that which we deem to be important.

So, let’s all take number three to heart.  A break is good, focusing on what’s right for us is good.  Figuring out how to use technology to support that is good.  To get the most out of it, we have to figure out what we’re going to put into it and let it unfold from there.