Become tech savvy

- How comfortable are you with technology? A lot of people think that being comfortable with technology is just a gift you're born with. There's a group of people who just naturally understand and take to it, and there's another group of people who it will never work for them and always be a mystery. That assumes that it's a trait that can't be learned. I believe that we all need to acquire the skill of being tech savvy, and we can all acquire the skill.

We just might have to change how we look at technology a little bit. I'd like to share with you five tips that will get you on the path toward becoming more tech savvy. Step number 1 is play. Get comfortable with the idea of playing with your technology. When you get a new smartphone or get a new program, open it up and just start clicking on things, move it around, have fun with it. In the beginning, you're not gonna break anything.

You're just exploring. So when you get a new program open for the first time, up at the top you may see a series of buttons. Ask yourself, what are these for? What do the pictures seem convey to me? Click on the buttons. Find out what they do. Just have fun with it. As you explore, you'll get more comfortable with technology. Number 2 is to always have a backup plan. Those who are tech savvy understand that it's not if a computer is going to fail, but when, which is why it's always a good idea to have two backups.

One is a physical backup that you have at your house or your office where you back up all your data regularly, perhaps once a month to another drive. The second is an online backup in the cloud where you subscribe to some service where your data is always getting backed up constantly. That way when the computer fails, because it will, you won't feel much pain because you always have a backup prepared. Number 3 is the idea that there's an app for that.

It's amazing how many people have invested time and money into creating apps to make our life easier. Those who are tech savvy understand that most anything you need help with can be solved through an app. For instance, I was helping my son with his soccer team, and I was involved with subbing players in and out of the game. It was kind of confusing for me, so I asked the question, I wonder if there's an app for that? I looked for it on the Android Store, and sure enough, someone had invested some time in creating a program to make it easier to substitute players in and out of a soccer game.

There's an app for that. Number 4, understand GIGO or garbage in, garbage out. This is the idea that most mistakes with a computer don't happen inside of the workings of the computer. They happen in between the keyboard and the chair. In other words, the person using the computer. Because we're the ones usually making the mistakes on the computer, we are the ones who can also find a solution.

So before we reach out to having someone else come in and fix our computer, we can explore what we did and try to re-trace our steps. Which leads to step 5, Google it. If you're having a problem with your computer, odds are there's somebody who's also had the exact same problem. So if you search for it online using the error message or whatever it is you're experiencing, odds are you're going to find a solution.

Take a few moments to just explore whether or not you can find an answer on your own. I have personally become much more comfortable with technology as I have troubleshooted my own problems. Now there are many other tips that you can use to get more tech savvy. This is just a starting point. I recommend that you check out the courses here on the library related to the specific software programs that you use. That will also help you become more tech savvy.

The idea is that computers and technology are our friends. All we need to do is just play around a little bit and get comfortable.