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Time Savers |
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Do some tasks
and/or people seem like a waste of time?
Like the time spent waiting for a customer service representative or
the slow checker at the
supermarket? Some time-wasters are
inevitable, but some are avoidable. Here
are some time-savers courtesy of the website http://senior.lifetips.com (note
the absence of the www in this web address): § To
save time and avoid longer waits at the doctor’s office, schedule wisely. Avoid Mondays and days following a
holiday. § To
dry out wet boots or shoes, use a hair dryer on the inside of them. This way, you won’t have to dry them
overnight. § Avoid
crowds at the bank or post office by avoiding peak hours. In other words, don’t go between the hours of
noon and 2PM and all day Friday. § To
avoid crowds at the grocery store, shop between 2 and 4PM or in the early
morning. Also, shopping during major
sporting or entertainment events will save you time. § Schedule
time for yourself every day. If you plan
on doing chores or errands the entire day, what do you have to look forward
to? And make sure your “me” time is
enjoyable. No sneaking chores in! § Keep
a pen and paper next to your bed for all those things you remember before you
go to sleep. Often, the mind is most
productive before it relaxes at the end of the day. § If you don’t want to turn on a light and sit up to write notes during the night, consider a small, solid-state voice recorder. Some people even carry one with them during the day. §
Avoid waiting for the plumber by taking care of your drains now. Use one cup of baking soda and add one cup of
vinegar. When the solution foams, flush
with a tea-kettle full of boiling water.
Technology is fun, convenient, exciting—and maddening! Have you ever wanted to slap your monitor or
throw that mouse? If so, you’re not alone. In fact, computer rage has joined road rage
as one of the most common emotions of the 21st century. Of course,
taking vengeance out on inanimate objects is nothing new. We’ve been doing it to our cars (kicking the tires or
banging on the steering wheel) and appliances (slamming the refrigerator door)
for years. Kent Norman,
a University of Maryland psychology professor,
researches and observes computer rage variations. He has a Computer Rage website (note the
absence of the www in this web address) at
http://lap.umd.edu/computer_rage/index.html which contains a survey about angry
behavior. Responses to this survey
indicate that women are more frustrated with computers than men, that more than
75% of men and women have cursed at their computers, and more than 20% have
slammed down a mouse, popped out keyboard keys, and scratched or bent CD ROMs
in anger. Norman identifies many common frustrations:
computer crashes requiring
rebooting; waiting for a computer to do something; computer glitches resulting
in having to redo work; difficulty reading computer screens; baffling
documentation; and, unhelpful Help Desks.
He describes frustration as a natural human emotion.
Most human behavior is goal-directed, aiming to accomplish something. We solve
problems to conquer barriers between us and our goals. But obstacles to those
goals can cause frustration, and when that frustration can't be controlled or
channeled, it turns to rage. Or could it
be that the more reliable technology becomes, the more angry and frustrated we
become when it lets us down? Still, it’s
important to remember that things usually work — the PC prints your letter, it
connects to the Internet, you are able to view Web pages — which should help us
to deal with the times they don't. Professor Norman suggests that, rather than bottling
up one's frustration with technology and entering into "techno-frustration
denial," we should allow frustrated users to vent in safe, controlled, and
vicarious way. His website describes
some venting procedures and offers links to some entertaining videos, as a
means for safely blowing off steam. So rage
on. Just don’t hurt anybody...or thing. Source:
www.aarp.org |