New software UPGRADES can waste a TON of time!
Posted on 25 June 2010 by Kevin Martyn
Stay focused is just one of the lessons which I constantly remind my students about.
STAY FOCUSED and avoid becoming distracted or sidetracked by other things. Stay focused because every day there are 101 demons in disguise just waiting to Steel your attention away from more important tasks such as fulfilling your goals and making money.
Concentrate and stay focused on your goals and ignore everything else!
So why am I writing this article?
Basically because I am P***** off because yesterday I TOTALLY lost sight of the target and forgot my own rule to stay focused. It started like this, today I had two articles and two videos to write, record and publish. Quite a full day’s work I am sure you will agree, but if I had stay focused and concentrated my energy I could have been finished by 1.00pm or 2.00pm at the latest.
But then a time vampire in disguise managed to engage my attention and destroy my day! He came in the guise of an e-mail offering an enticing upgrade to my voice activated software.
Now I just love my voice activated software, in fact, I would NORMALLY be writing this article with it right now, but not today. When it is WORKING I find it very productive and useful, so naturally this promise of a voice activated tool with EVEN more functionality gained my FULL attention.
My mouth watered with delight as I read the many benefits that this heavily discounted upgrade offered me, but one in particular fully captured my interest. the preferred version of this software would allow me to use my digital dictaphone to record my articles, letters, e-mails, Etc.
Just think, rather than having to sit in front of my computer and dictate, I would have the freedom to Work from ANYWHERE that I wished and just dictate directly into my digital dictaphone. Then, at a later stage I could come home and plug it into my computer, push play and the upgraded software would do the rest for me.
Wow, was I impressed! And it didn’t take long to decide that this was a smart and very useful upgrade which I would be stupid not to take advantage of.
So, straight after I took my son to school I got out my credit card and ordered the upgrade which I download straight to my computer to start taking advantage of IMMEDIATLY. At the same time I mentally started to plan my day and thought that I would work outside in the garden, or perhaps go for a walk along the beach only stopping to dictate my work while enjoying this lovely summer weather. It all sounded very appealing, and just five minutes later the software was sitting on my computer desktop.
I clicked the install button and sat back rubbing my hands together In satisfaction. Just a few minutes from now I could be walking on the beach and getting my work done at the very same time.
Nine hours latter…
The software was still not working, I had spent £50 on phone calls to their support desk, and had not done ONE BIT of my well planned work for the day! To say that I was, and still am FRUSTRATED is a HUGE understatement!
As I write this it is the following morning and I am typing directly into ‘WordPad’ because my voice activated software still isn’t working and neither is my word processor! Am I looking at another day just to get back to the point I was at yesterday morning? POSIBLY!
So why not just go back to the older version of the software?
GREAT IDEA! I tried that and it wouldn’t allow me to do so, I EVEN tried reinstalling the whole system to before the software upgrade and that was also unsuccessful! Today I will spending more UNPODUCTIVE time just getting back to the point I was at yesterday morning.
I COULD and probably will SCREEM!
I am sure that we have all been here in this HIGHLY frustrating situation!
So what is the MOREL of this story?
STAY FOCUED. Stay away from software upgrades unless they really necessary, unless you have NOTHING better to do with your time!
Another time saving tip..I am the sales person dream being taken in by all the promises ..my new rule…If I still want it in a week then get it ..in the meantime ..keep blogging
At this point Karen I have become really strict with myself about NEEDLESSLY upgrading programmes and software. There are some software programs you can rely on to be consistent in the quality of their upgrades which don’t give you problems. However, most of them I avoid like the plague.
Generally, I wait until I upgrade computers which is usually about every two years and then upgrade operating system and software all at the same time and try to stick with it until the next upgrade. However, the good news is that I now have this program working perfectly, and this afternoon when it was 29° C outside I sat in the deep dark shade of an old tree in our garden and dictated 600 or 700 words in one file, and then did the same on another article. I came to the computer and the program transcribed these files in just a few seconds and my articles were 98% accurate, and I didn’t have to spend a couple of hours sitting in front of the computer. Marvellous!
So was it worth it? It probably will be over the next few weeks and months and years to come because there are so many occasions when I sit with my note book and get the idea almost completed in my head I would just love to write them down there and then, and now I can.