Using tech to make our life easier
#48* - spending a day with 11 year olds
Hi there,
How are you doing? Good or bad, I’d love to hear it (reply to this email).
It’s been a full 2nd week of school as music lessons and rehearsals got back in tune, along with a performance of the national anthem at a service for the late Queen. The step-up to A-Levels also began to show itself with trickier, more brain-power concepts and problems making their appearance.
Highlight of the week: helping out at the school entrance exam yesterday. It was great fun getting to speak to a different age range, all with sharp pencils and nervous faces. Also bagged a little monetary gift so 🤗 . Having a peek at their test also made me make a U-turn into the past, back to when I was in their position.
Today’s post is a reminder to harness the good in tech. At a time in history when we hear about crypto, web3 and AI’s role in the future, it is easy to forget that technology is ultimately about helping us live better lives. It’s key, therefore, to use what is available to us in an impactful, powerful way, exploring its capabilities to provide us leverage - a small action on our part that results in a sizeable effect.
Rewind 2 years, I was the cool one in the house with a brand new phone📱. Four exceptional cameras, fingerprint unlock and gigantic screen: it was a huge upgrade from my previous Year 7 phone and a great addition into my life.
This meant that the photos we took on my phone seemed way better than any on my Mum’s phone. I found myself repeatedly having to send any photos we took on walks or days out, when I thought “There must be a better way of doing this.”
Enter stage left, Google Photos. I discovered their ‘Shared albums’ feature and immediately set it up so that any photos with my mum or sister in them are added to this album once every day, which my mum has access to and is notified about - perfect.
Alas, hedonic adaptation - the idea that we quickly get used to our lifestyle and shift the goalposts - means that now my Mum and Dad’s superior, newer models are much preferred for photos. When I whipped out my phone to take pictures on holiday this summer, I would be met with a “Why that phone? The camera is rubbish. Let’s use my one.” 😢
Nevertheless, the point here is setting up automation was and still is a win-win situation. It avoided many manual laborious actions of picking the right photos and sending them over the past 750 days.
Another example is scheduling emails. With the return to school, any important emails I need to send to teachers, I am using Outlook’s ‘Schedule send’ feature to arrive in their inbox at 8 am. They see it on time and get back to me. Clever, clinical and convenient.
Other ideas to conserve your precious brain power and mental energy:
Setting up reminders on your phone. Most of us have an app that can do that job (or even your voice assistant) but don’t utilise it enough. It is better to be reminded about something that ended up remembering than to forget it and pay the price. My favourite for this is Any.do (featured before) - I can put ‘Mr Gordon 7am’ before I go to bed, and there it is when I am waiting for the bus.
Birthday reminders. Whilst people receive several ‘Happy Birthday’ messages on their special day, they will appreciate you remembering to wish them; it makes them feel special, important and valued (a key point in the book I’m reading at the moment). Except you haven’t…Google Calendar has done the work for you (“Other calendar apps are available” always been perplexed why people say stuff like that)
Reading the news. To make sure I don’t forget to read the news or even if I do, not be buried under a pile of headlines, I subscribe to the BBC News Daily email. 3 big headlines followed a diverse mix of other stories I may find interesting - these often trickle into our newsletter! There are so many newsletters, not just updating you on current affairs, that can keep you posted on topics you want to know more about
The bottom line (literally): we are very advanced human beings with computers with superpowers inside our pockets. It’s all free for you to use these capabilities and all to gain - no price and infinite benefits. It seems crazy not to automate parts of your life, put your feet up and let the invisible tech do the hard yards.
Book of the week 📖
The increase in work in the evenings has bumped reading How to Win Friends and Influence People off the schedule. Having said that, I’ve been subconsciously and consciously applying bits and pieces of what I’ve learnt (the #1 way of improving from a book) and have found how well it works. Next up will be an shortened abridge version of the bible of Economics, The Wealth of Nations by the legendary Adam Smith.
Podcast of the week🎙️
The Future of Everything: The Conservation Conundrum: How Do We Decide Which Species to Save?
Although I’ve been opting for Harry Styles over happiness advice this week, here’s one I did catch, making me think about something fresh: the ethics behind choosing which animals are more ‘worth’ saving?
Article of the week📰
Srikanth Bolla: The blind CEO’s £48m company which nearly didn’t happen
An inspirational story of perseverance and never-give-up attitude, that can both encourage those with disabilities to keep going and also remind those blessed enough to be without any handicaps that if he can do this, you can do that and more!
Quote of the week💬
Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Have a great week (starting off with a bank holiday here in the UK!)
Adi
*Ahead of my half century, I’m just fixing a discrepancy in my numbering