“You shouldn’t have so many photos, or duplicates of those photos.”
“Your Desktop shouldn’t be such a mess.”
“You forgot your password… again?!?”
“This Mac stuff is basic, and it’s easy. You should know this.”
“You should be more on top of this! Why don’t you know this yet?”
“Why aren’t you organized yet?”
“FINE, I will explain it again.” … *long, condescending sigh*
“What’s wrong with you?” — or some version of that — is always the implication.
It seems as though most people have a condescending, egotistical, impatient jerk of a computer guy in their mental “peanut gallery.” Watching, judging, sneering.
What’s wrong with him?
Have you ever…
…had someone say to you “it’s normal that you don’t know this, it’s totally fine. I’ll show you how to do it and we can practice together. It’s also normal that you will forget how to do it as soon as I leave so I will make you some notes, and I’m happy to hear from you and send a reminder and explain in different ways. Here, I’ll make you a video.“
…had someone say to you “it is okay and understandable to be nervous about the Cloud. Let’s talk about that for as long as you want, and we’ll either make sure you understand how to stay safe online or we’ll get all your stuff out of the Cloud.”
…had someone say to you “this mess and chaos and disorganization in your Mac is normal because you’re busy and organizing a Mac is actually not that easy. It requires 20-30 micro-skills that need to be put together and used with time, discipline, and intention. No problem. It’s just some new skills and some new muscles. Let’s get started.”
Here are some very normal and understandable feelings about your technology:
- Nervous about the Cloud and being online in general
- Shame and self-judgment about not knowing how to do something “basic” or “obvious”
- Mad at yourself for avoiding or procrastinating on some cleanup/organizing task
- Feeling like you should have done X by now, or you should know X by now
- Worried about “is this the right decision / service / hardware for me”
- Stress about all the time you’re wasting inefficiently looking for files you need
- Denial and avoidance about whether you’re backed up enough
- Performance anxiety now or about the future; you need to know how to do something and PEOPLE WILL BE WATCHING
- General dislike of technology while knowing you’re totally dependent upon it
Have you ever had someone say to you “yep, those feelings are normal. Tell me more, so I fully understand”?
I want all Mac users to get this kind of help, care, and advice – in addition to getting the tech problems solved. I believe all consultants should strive to be this way.
I strive to be this way.
Your tech person should help you make sure decisions are right for you. They should get things working better, teach you what you need to know, make a tutorial video, and be ready for your text messages when you forget everything you talked about.
If you’re someone looking for that kind of help, get in touch. If you agree or disagree, comment below. If you’re a consultant wanting to learn to work this way, get in touch.
Your Mac issues, stress, anxiety, tech-shame, avoidance, denial, and worries will be things of the past.