The longer you avoid it, the worse your apprehensions will get….
There is no escaping technology these days. It’s all around us. Working with people and techie things on a daily basis, I’ve realized that looking or feeling stupid is my main issue.
People my age start to believe they are “technologically challenged” because we didn’t learn it in school.
Let’s face it — nothing about using a phone, working on a computer or tablet is intuitive. This means we need to learn the basic skills to establish a foundation to use technology.
You can’t learn everything at once so be patient with yourself. You can break it down and focus on one thing at a time. This helps you get comfortable and make the world of technology feel more manageable.
Concentrate on one aspect of your phone at a time. You need to use texting every day and, if you don’t know how to use it, you’ll be the odd person cheated out of fun and frequent “chats” among friends and family. Once you learn that, go on to the next app or most-used feature, like the phone app.
Quite frequently, we feel “dumb” when we don’t understand the features we use the most. They cause frustration and resistance.
It helps to stop the negative self-talk — instead of saying “I can’t use this phone” say “I need to learn how to use this phone so I can stop having these issues.”
Of the online platforms that may interest you, you might want to try YouTube. It is a great place to start with learning. Once you learn to use the platform, you can get tutorials about anything you need.
Direct your energy to things that are fun will make the learning process feel less like a chore. So focus on fun and start with things you are interested in. If you like movies, focus on using Netflix. If you love photography, focus on learning how to use your phone’s camera. Look for tutorials for this on Youtube!
Find a reliable family member or friend that can take the time to answer a specific question. Remember that not everyone has the patience to teach you. Often, it takes less time than you think. Just 10 minutes of their time can alleviate hours of frustration.
When you ask for help, make sure you have a specific set of questions or issues. It is less daunting to a friend or loved one if you say, “I don’t understand copy and paste. Do you have time to show me?” than if you say, “I need you to teach me how to use the computer.”
Local community centers, extension classes and local or virtual experts are available if you don’t feel comfortable asking someone you know. Many such places offer ongoing classes you can take or a once-a-month help session, one-to-one, for specific issues you are dealing with.
There are may tech-help experts that offer remote learning, online services, and online classes that you can connect and learn from the comfort of your home. There has been an expansion of these services since “Covid life” started. Buying lessons or enrolling in an actual class will pay dividends in the future.
Once you get over the mental block of thinking you don’t understand, you will be surprised how much you can figure out just by touching or clicking the icons you are not familiar with. You won’t break anything so don’t be afraid to play around and learn as you go.
Think about today’s kids and how the two-year-olds grab their parent’s phone and begin to tap and touch and take pictures. They aren’t scared. They don’t have anywhere near the verbal understanding that we have, life experiences, or reasoning levels. But they aren’t afraid. They react to pictures, colors, icons, and cues given on the phone by touching, not freezing, or staring. They aren’t waiting for words to guide them.
So go ahead! Be proactive with reading booklets, articles or blogs. Get on YouTube and watch video tutorials, google your questions. There is so much free content on the internet spanning all levels of knowledge.
The point is that technology isn’t going anywhere. Everything from your car, your oven, and your phone is becoming a smart device. Giving in to fear will put you in a deeper hole.
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