Don't Stress About Technology!

Firstly, I’ve got to crush any first impression you have of me that I’m some old anti-technology person, opposed to any original innovation. It’s not true! I think it’s incredible the devices and systems that the mind of man has fashioned to make our lives easier, happier or simply more appealing! For example, I bought my original Sat Nav for the car years ago, yet I still get a sincere pleasure when the little machine “knows” where my little known destination is, or it knows there’s a branch of a burger chain around the next corner.

Another of my individual favourite technologies is the Track ID software I’ve got on my phone. Again, not a new invention, but isn’t it astonishing how you can sample 5 seconds of a song playing on a jukebox in a noisy bar, and then 20 seconds later on you get presented with not just the artist and song title, but the album it is from and a link to get the track, there and then!

So, please, I’m not a “luddite”, technology is fine, but, and it’s a big BUT…as long as we’re still in control. Let’s return to the Sat Nav. How many occasions have all of us taken the orders as “gospel” and turned the car where the system said, when the turning went in opposition to a) What the map said b) What the signs said c) What each person in the car thought d) Common sense!

Sure, from time to time Sat Navs re-route us when it’s picked up some traffic information such as a queue ahead, but this service is just on major routes. When the little box insists you turn down a cattle farm track that ends in a milking shed, you know you’re relying too much on technology.

Are we agreed, then? Technology is fine as long as human brainpower and common sense is used as well as the piece of equipment. Take search engines. The more deliberation you put into the actual search phrase results in a far more constructive set of results.

Now, while we’re still by the computer screen, let’s look at the crazy world of often needless software upgrades. I’ve just finished co-writing a project for the Practical Stressbusters site, which lists hundreds of particular areas in life which, unless managed, can create colossal amounts of completely preventable stress. In our study, we discovered that attempting to get used to brand new software programs was a major cause of stress.

Yes, of course, upgrade your operating system as well as essential computer player software such as Flash and Acrobat Reader - this makes total sense. However, when it comes to say word processing or spread sheet creation and editing, it’s estimated that larger than 80% of regular users only in reality require the very basic functions. So why upgrade the software which offer a barrel load of snazzy features you will in no way, ever need? As well as the additional expense, the new program will be bloated with superfluous code meaning it’ll take longer to load, drain more computer memory and no doubt have some strange bugs in its initial release.

But these aren’t necessarily the source of the stress for users. Usually the software company design a completely different look and interface to the program, meaning buttons will often be in different locations and some of your favourite features may even have been taken away! If you’ve used the “good old” software for ages, it’s all the hassle of having to retrain your brain to operate a completely new system!

Maybe you’re one of the people who were in tears of desperation in 2007 when Microsoft Word changed dramatically in look and features. Where has “save” gone? How do you even open a document? To add insult to injury, by default, the program saved files with a .docx suffix so you’d send these files to folks by e-mail who simply couldn’t open them. Even though Microsoft offer a simple download for anyone to read the “.docx” Word & Excel files, many companies forbid their workers to download any files! Misery all round!

There are loads more examples I could site, but to sum up, let’s all use technology when it really helps us, but let’s keep things in perspective and use the electronic brains around with our own human ones to ensure our stress levels are kept low and we can all enjoy our lives!

By: Peter M Baker

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Peter Baker is a UK based broadcaster and writer, specialising in health and lifestyle issues. Peter is one of the team behind a comprehensive site aimed at offering advice on coping with stress: www.PracticalStressbusters.com - The site is an excellent resource offering many downloadable e-books, audio files and self-help advice articles, most of them free, to help people cope with stress in their lives.