Your Happiness Project: Conquer a device.

I’m working on my Happiness Project, and you should have one, too! Everyone’s project will look different, but it’s the rare person who can’t benefit. Join in -- no need to catch up, just jump in right now. Each Friday’s post will help you think about your own happiness project.

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes feel overwhelmed by technology. I need to learn how to use new gizmos for my blog, but it’s not just that. Even devices that used to be easy to use – like TVs, irons, dishwashers – can now be challenging.

Adding to that complexity in our house is the fact that the Big Man is what I call an “incomplete upgrader.” Last year, he bought a new video camera, but still hasn’t quite figured out how to use it. Or other times, if he does figure out how to use a new thing, he won’t have the patience to show me, and I don’t have the patience to sit down with the manual.

We don’t go out and buy much stuff; we don’t accumulate much tech apparatus. But even so, somehow I’ve allowed myself to become surrounded by several common household appliances that I don’t quite know how to use. I’m pretty slow with TiVo. I don’t know how to use the “mute” function on our phone. I’m still figuring out my Flip camera (though that really is pretty easy). A friend burned a bunch of photos onto a disk, but I can’t get them to display.

Recently, to celebrate starting a new job, the Big Man bought a coffeemaker that, weeks later, I still hadn’t figured out how to use. I just made tea for myself instead; I couldn’t face learning a new machine.

I realized, though, that feeling ignorant and incompetent was weighing me down. Last weekend, I mastered the coffeemaker (and it wasn’t that hard). Slowly but surely, I’ve vowed, I’m going to master every useful device in my apartment.

The First Splendid Truth holds that to be happy, we need to think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth.

The “atmosphere of growth” element is far more important that I realized when I came up with the First Splendid Truth. The feeling that you’re growing is a KEY to happiness. Even a very little step toward growth – like learning to use a new coffeemaker – gives a boost.

Now, some folks might say, “I don’t buy or use those devices.” You might think such things are wasteful, or time-wasters, or replace other activities that are more valuable. But in my own case, for the devices that I want to use, I DO think it would be useful and valuable to learn how to use them better. So I’m making my list.

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Interested in starting your own Happiness Project? If you’d like to take a look at my Resolutions Chart, for inspiration, just email me at grubin, then the “at” sign, then gretchenrubin dot com. No need to write anything more than “Resolutions Chart” in the subject line.

Comments

[Sus]

I know exactly what you mean. I've had a Treo Smartphone for 2 years and just can not figure out how to make the calendar and contacts work for me. I've been complaining that it's the phone's fault, mostly because I want an excuse to buy an iPhone. I just decided yesterday that in the interest of not being wasteful, I would MAKE myself learn how to use this phone.

[Adam]

I wrote recently about the power of "eustress" (good stress that forces us to grow and evolve). I think this is a great example. Learning anything new, including the intricacies of the gadgets in our lives, is a way to forge new patterns and relationships in our brains, make us feel better about ourselves and grow as individuals. Seems like a pretty good return on investment just for taking the time to learn how to use a new gadget... ;-)

Cheers,
Adam

[Molly]

Oh goodness! As I was leaving the house this morning to go for a bike ride w/ my son I noticed I had a flat tire, but was unable to do anything about it because I have no clue about running my husbands air compressor (and we don't have a hand held pump). I felt like a hostage of my own ignorance. When the husband comes home tonight I'm learning.

[TasterSpoon]

This is a good one. I too am an incomplete upgrader, and I don't just miss out on the technology, I feel guilty about wasting the things I have.

Work gave me a Blackberry in April or something and I didn't want to deal with the interface so it's been in a drawer for six months.

[TasterSpoon]

Oh wait, it was January. If I had a PDA, I'd know that.

[beth_nc]

Yes, because trying to figure out new technology frustrates me, I avoid learning it but then feel bad and wasteful about having the stuff -- and old/out of touch.

But this feeling is strange because in general, I like to learn new things. (Gretchen, I think you do, too) Why is it different with new technology?

It will feel better to master these skills.

[Jayne]

Yep, I often feel overwhelmed by technology too. I've been feeling quite overwhelmed trying to get my head around all that comes with launching and maintaining a blog since I started mine about a month back. For me I think it has to do with information overload. Most of the time I feel like my brain is close to full so I struggle to take in all the techno stuff, which isn't really my thing to begin with.

But, like you, I know that feeling competent at it, if not mastering it, will be a source of happiness.

[Ulla Hennig]

I very much know what you mean. I am quite good with computer and internet and suchlike, but it took me some time to learn all about my new telephone. I hate to read manuals, but the thing is, that without reading them you cannot use all the things your devices offer. So some weeks ago I simply read the manual and discovered a lot of nice things. Well...

[sylrayj]

It's not just items - my Mozilla Firefox updates itself somewhat regularly, adding features like the ability to drag your tabs about and 'open all tabs' starting from the current one and moving to the right, instead of overwriting all of the tabs to the left. I also have finally made the switch to RSS feeds - and it saves me a lot of time in my day not checking web pages that didn't happen to update today.

[Melissa]

Thank you for this -- so timely as I paid good money for a Bluetooth headpiece back in June that I can't figure out how to use and feel totally intimidated by. I *do* think the instructions are bad, but it's not a totally valid excuse.

[Mary K]

It's funny you mentioned this because I logged onto my computer today with the intent to learn how to manipulate my new Wacom Pen Tablet and the software that came with it. I don't do well with online tutorials; I would rather have a book or magazine that I can refer to when I'm trying to learn something (especially a magazine that offers new tips every month--yay!). Bouncing back and forth between computer screens just isn't my idea of joy and learning.

[Martin Polley]

The problem is not US, it's THEM. A cryptic coffee machine. An inscrutable air compressor. These things are failures of design. Or, in some cases, a complete lack of design.

Part of the problem lies with us, in that we demand and buy products with more and more features, instead of products that are simpler and easier to use.

We need to stop looking just at the feature list and instead start looking at the product itself. If it's not obvious how to use a coffee machine when I'm looking at it in the store, maybe I should keep looking.

[Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D.]

This post made me chuckle since tackling new technology seems an ongoing experience for me.

I remember one day decades ago when I decided I was going to learn to program my VCR. I sat down with the manual and vowed not to get up until I had mastered it. Yippee! I did.

The bad news about all this mastery, however, is that as soon as you experience that good-feeing-from-accomplishing-tech something new comes out, as well as upgrades to all your current possessions.

Since the day I decided to take over maintaining my websites and decided to set up my own blogs, I have been on a daily trek of climbing steep learning curves.

I agree with Martin that we should buy appliances who features are easy in the first place. When I remodeled my kitchen that was the primary feature I required; sturdy and easy to clean were the next.

I thought I wanted chrome appliances, for example, until while in the showroom I saw that my handprint on the refrigerator door stayed there for all to see. So, whether or not my handprint was visible on the refrigerator door became the determining factor.

I bought a black refrigerator with a leather-like finish. No handprints.

It's far easier to make wise decisions about buying appliances than it is to adapt to changes with online technology.

When I went over to check on several domains today, for example, I discovered that my host company has redesigned the look of their site--again! (I was just there last week!) I had to look carefully for links to the areas I needed. Eventually I had to call tech support. Thankfully it's 24/7.

Although online technology throws challenges my way frequently, it also gives me many feeling-good experiences when I finally figure out the latest new thing. It also gives me confidence that I'll be able to master the next thing when it comes out next week.

[Gabrielle H]

I am proud to say that I have yet to encounter a computer program that I have not figured out how to use by randomly pressing buttons to see what happens. Mobile phones are a different matter. I fail the teenager test, and I'm only nineteen.

[Chris Brown]

Thanks for the post and I know exactly what you mean. Life's too short to spend it working out the latest gadget (and I say this as a long time gadget lover).
I think the trick is to understand that when you buy a gadget you do not need to know how it does everything. There is no shame in owning a mobile phone that you only use as a phone or a Camcorder that you can only use to film people with. There is no Techno God condemning you to Techno hell because you can't send text (or should that be TXT). For me this is a happiness issue that is more to do with perspective than technology.

[Allyn (not Ellen!)]

Sometimes it's just knowing yourself well enough to find the best place to start. I'm pretty visual/intellectual in orientation so I tend to go straight for the manual because it's pretty much all in there, even if badly written. My husband is the hands-on type and doesn't read manuals unless it's an emergency. I recently challenged myself to figure out my daughter's new iPod/ radio/alarm clock without opening the instructions, and it was actually kinda fun!

[Juliet]

Hi
If we think about just how difficult it is to get oneself to try out a new gizmo (and I struggle alot with that myself), we realise just how much effort it requires for us to move out of our comfort zones in life and focus on achieving our goals and having what we want!
Juliet