I’m much like the masses in how I handle and view my technology devices. I have a respect for them. The jobs that I do and the communications I have, it simply couldn’t be done without them. It’s become not only a matter of ease and functionality, but rather the entire dynamic of HOW we work is utterly dependent on these devices. They’ve expanded all of our universes in ways we couldn’t imagine. The convenience they’ve afforded us is invaluable. Until they’re inconvenient……..
And when that happens, most of us when we have a problem go wrong with our smartphone, printer, tablet, fitbit, computer, hell, even Xbox, we lose our minds. At least momentarily. We flip out, panic, complaining to as many people as we can in our vicinity how the end of our world is approaching because something is broken or not working right. And then when we’re done with that rant, we call our IT people. And the rant ensues all over again. EVERYONE that is reading this has been there. And if you haven’t, you’re lying because you’ve at least done it internally. For me, it’s happened several times. Because it’s a disruption to your day. A hiccup in your work. A breakdown in the bastion.
The harsh reality is breakdowns, blips, issues, errors, they’re going to occur. But, we can be a little more nice to our devices. Much like how a car needs maintenance, so do our devices. And all of us know this. And most of us take general care of our devices. Or we think we do. But for the most part we just count on the magic to happen once we fire them up. Without giving our device the proper care they need can sometimes lead to a shorter life. And some of us need to learn that lesson a few times. Which is okay- the universe is generous in providing us these lessons over and over and over again until we get it.
For me it was my laptop. I’m a bit of a nomad with how I conduct my work. Having a desktop isn’t even an option and I tend to do my work anywhere needed. One of my favorite spots is from my bed, (In case any of you were straying from a PG mindset, It’s legit clean work people) So, I had a tendency to plop my laptop atop my blankets and plug away. At one point, my laptop screen just went black. I couldn’t see ANYTHING! So yes, refer to above as to how I reacted. I had to buy a new screen and get it replaced. And the culprit being it’s not a wise idea to work away on your laptop bundled up and not allowing your device to breathe. Those babies got fans in them to help cool them down, but they go into overtime when you create an environment that makes them work that much harder.
So, I did what any of us will do in this short term memory society. I was relieved and happy my screen was all fixed and I resumed bad habits plopping it on the bed again despite my warnings from Nate. And as Captain Obvious could point out, it eventually happened again. And I replaced it again. BUT! I never plopped it on the bed the same way again. Keeping them on a hard flat surface will prevent this. Laptop pillows provide a hard surface for such situations when you are in bed or resting it on your lap and some laptop tables have holes in them to help create better airflow. Another highly encouraged form of maintenance for the issue that I had is cleaning the airflow ports on a regular basis. This can be done by using compressed air (duster) that you can buy in the can. Make sure when you do that your device is turned off. We could all stand to be a little more nice to our devices avoiding disaster from striking as much as we can. When you think of all the times they come through for us without a problem we kind of owe our devices that much care.
