Don't trust technology!

Technology is an integral part of our lives.  We depend on a working internet, cell towers that function, the latest gadget.  They’re all so amazing when they work.  And incredibly frustrating and stressful when they don’t.

Are you prepared for them to fail at the worst time possible?  You’d better be.  Because it’s going to happen.  You can pretty much be sure of that!

I’m all about strategies; it’s what I’m known for.  Stress strategies, success strategies, you name it.  Now I’ve added technology strategies to my repertoire because I’ve had to.  You should too.  Let me share a few quick stories to tell you why.

Last September I was leaving for a trip to Florida for some training.  I was going to be picked up by my sister-in-law.  All good - until the morning of the trip when my iPhone decided to take a journey to la-la land.  First, all my contacts were gone.  All of them including my sister-in-law’s phone number which I never memorized because it was ON MY PHONE!  Then the phone began cutting out during calls and texts.  What???  How could I travel without a phone?  How would she know where to meet me, when I would arrive?  My flight was less than 3 hours away.  What was I going to do?

I went to Verizon and asked for help.  I was told I would be about 8^th in line, about a 40 minute wait.  I told them I had a flight to catch and they said I was 8^th in line and had to wait about 40 minutes.  Luckily I teach stress-busting strategies or I would have been in real trouble.  The wait turned out to be 20 minutes.  They couldn’t fix the phone.  They did notice that nobody had contacts on their phone because of a mix-up on the upgrade that just happened.  They actually were there but not under contacts (just what we all need…a mystery search!) They were going to have to ship my phone out and send me a new one in about 5 days.  What??? 

I’m actually really lucky.  For some unknown reason, I took along my old Droid phone.  They reactivated that and thankfully I made my flight.  The new phone arrived but it had a problem.  It wouldn’t connect to iTunes which meant it couldn’t pick up the music.  Off we go again.  The third one also had some issues so that went back.  A month later, I was back with a working phone.  A month!

Strategy #1?  Back up, back up, back up.  Use sites like Carbonite, a service that is continually backing up your computer.  Back up to non-technology.  I copied down all my phone numbers, all the dates on the calendar.  I try to do that once a week.  Because you can’t trust technology. 

I travel for business and have run into a new problem.  Hotels are finding they can’t handle all the technology people bring along with them now.  I’ve been in 5 separate places this year that had intermittent internet.  One place told me that although they only had 27 units, they sometimes had over 200 devices using the internet at one time.  I had a laptop, iPhone and IPad.  I see what they’re saying.  Technology is growing faster than the infrastructure to support it.  If I wanted to use the internet at one place, I had to do so before 7 am or after 11 pm

Strategy #2:  Expect and prepare for the worst.  Call ahead and see if the place you’re staying at has a cord to plug the laptop in.  Oh yeah, bring a laptop if you really need the internet.  IPads and other tablets are the last to get the signal for some reason.  If you need a file in your travels, better have a hard copy or back up thumb drive just in case.  To quote the favorite line from my friend David at Kaleidoscope Theatre, “It’s better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.” 

Think of how technology was affected on that horrible day in Boston or what’s going on right now in Moore, OK.  Technology can’t handle all the calls on days like those.  We have to be prepared for the what ifs.  Texting, Facebook and Twitter are sometimes the best way to communicate when phone lines are down.  It’s how I found out my nephew, his wife and their baby were safe after just leaving the Boston marathon. 

Strategy #3:  Have a plan to communicate with loved ones should the usual technology fail.  Make sure everyone knows the plan.  Have a backup for that plan.

That goes for non-technology issues as well.  Be prepared for bad storms, possible fires.  Don’t wait til the last minute.  Have the water, the non-perishable food, the batteries, maybe even the generator.  Keep important papers safe.  

I love my technology but I’m prepared for it to leave me whenever it feels like it.  I don’t live in fear of it because I live by the motto “prepare for the worst but expect the best”.  And that’s a less stressful way to live.  You can do if you plan for it.

Got to go… starting to thunder…and I need to unplug this laptop!  Be safe out there!