The ConclusionLike all good stories, this one is going to end where it begins. So I figured I just give you the end before I begin to give details. Over the past decade of helping people out I've eventually have come to a few conclusions. Here are the two most important conclusions.
Technology is for productivity.
It exists for our sake. We do not exist for technology's sake. It exists to serve us and at some point produce some type of item. This item is often time but it also can be money, communication or something similar.
I mention this because with the amount of time we spend on technology, choosing right items, configuration and getting things to work, you'd think that we exists for technology's sake. We've all heard, or worse, been through (myself included) stories that start out like this, "I spend all day on trying to get such and such to work."
Really? All day? It isn't that I don't believe, it's that I figure at some point along the process of trying to get it to work, you'd give up. Not because you are a quitter but because it isn't worth it.
Time is the most precious resource.
Rote, I know but non the less true. Beautiful beaches, coral reefs, playing with children, calling neglected family members are all things that we could be doing instead of struggling with technology.
I try to take this mindset everyday. In practical terms, I try and fix the problems as fast as possible. Also I put a 2 hour limit on it. If it isn't fixed in 2 hours, I simply give up and find another way, often replacing the difficult item.