I am officially declaring the opening of Technoholics Anonymous. Anyone who is a recovering technoholic, like I am, can join by just posting an “I am a technoholic” comment below.
Are there any benefits? Well, yes: you could save a fortune by not buying every new gadget that comes out. And, you get to see that you are not alone in being a technoholic.
So, what is a technoholic? You are a technoholic when:
- You buy a new gadget and two weeks later you are tired of it and ready for something else.
- You subscribe to every technology blog you come across and feel like your day is not complete if you haven’t read all of their posts.
- You are convinced that your next gadget, or your next software purchase, will be the one that finally takes you to peak productivity.
- You own so much software that you could not even begin to guess how much you have spent on it, let alone how much you have spent on gadgets.
- Your spouse has difficulty getting you aroused because she/he first has to get you off of the computer, and sometimes just gives up.
You can probably think of other fitting characteristics, and feel free to add them in the comments.
Many of you know my story: I don’t even know how many PDAs and Smartphones I have owned, and have absolutely no idea how much I have spent on software. I probably have a couple of hundred programs that I just don’t even use anymore. I love gadgets and, ever since I retired, I have had to work at not continuously throwing good retirement money at gadgets.
I have done pretty well in the past 6 months. Sure, I got an iPod Touch, but that was (partly) because my previous iPod’s battery was terminally ill. I have resisted getting an iPhone, convincing myself that the BlackBerry Curve I got several months ago is still good enough for me. And, I have resisted getting a Kindle, although I fear that I will cave in on this at some point: I love to read, and the Kindle has gotten some kick-ass reviews.
Does “joining” Technoholics Anonymous mean that you must give up technology? Heavens no! That would be insane. All it means is that you recognize you need to take control over technology, not vice versa.
Anyway, join up if you’d like, and let’s support each other in the comments.
A related post that I recommend: is technology holding you back?
@Bruce: “You are convinced that your next gadget, or your next software purchase, will be the one that finally takes you to peak productivity. ”
Okay, I was proudly answering “no” to your questions until this one. You got me. My name is Bill Myers and I’m a technoholic.
Yes, that’s a gotcha for a lot of folks, Bill.
I guess I need to officially declare, too: “I’m Bruce Keener, and I am a technoholic.”
Now, I’ll stay out of the comments and let you folks chime in.
“I have never seen a gadget that I did not buy”
“I’m Steve Vernon, and I too, am a technoholic.”
Maybe we should start a 12-step program or something, only accessible via the internet by a handheld device of course.
Hi, My name is Prashanth and I a… bzzzzz…sorry, I have to get this…. hello? hey man I have been meaning to call u……..
In all seriousness, I had wiped my PDA clean of all of the add-on programs I’d installed — only to put them all back. What got me off the wagon was a desire to use the Outlook Notes function the way the Netcentrics GTD Outlook Add-In suggests. You can’t do that on a Windows Mobile PDA without adding PhatNotes. Once I took that one “drink,” I went on a bender and re-installed everything else.
On the other hand, the technology really hasn’t been controlling me this go-round. The difference this time is that I’ve read and have been implementing David Allen’s Getting Things Done. The book shows you what you really need to stay organized… and what you don’t. By exercising some discipline, I’ve found myself using only those features on my PDA (and the mountain of add-in software I’ve installed) that I need… and ignoring the rest.
The real test will be the next time I take a vacation, of course. Can I bring my PDA to a getaway without letting work intrude? Only time will tell.
Alright.. tough crowd.
Okay; I use an HP iPAQ with Pocket Informant. I also use Vitalist for web based task management; and portable task management through todolist and taskCoach and Jello Dashboard.
My life is consumed in tagging, categorizing, grouping and nesting tasks and projects. I spend more time capturing, mindmapping, prioritizing, envangelizing these approaches and synchronizing than actually doing them.
Technology is not my enemy; its my crutch, I use it to avoid actually doing the tasks;
There I said it; I actually feel worse now…
@Prashanth: “I spend more time capturing, mindmapping, prioritizing, envangelizing these approaches and synchronizing than actually doing them.”
First, it’s reassuring to know that I’m not the only one who falls into this trap. Thank you for letting me know there are others like me out there.
I think Bruce’s intent was for us to use this thread to support each other and offer solutions. So I’ll issue a challenge and see if anyone takes me up on it: I’ll wipe my PDA and go back to the plain vanilla configuration if someone else will take a similar step to towards making technology serve them rather than the reverse. If there are any takers, I’d be happy to run a post in my own blog in a couple of weeks so we can check in with each other. (Unless you’d prefer to see that happen here, Bruce. I offered up my own blog because I don’t want to be presumptuous.)
If no one is interested in doing this, I understand, no hard feelings. It’s only a suggestion, submitted for your consideration.
(FYI, nothing will stop me from buying a new AT&T Tilt, if for no other reason than that I am planning a career change and my current PDA is company property.
)
Feh. You people are all weak. I don’t have a technology problem – I tech because I enjoy it and I can quit anytime I want to. In fact, I have – several times. I just don’t want to right now, that’s all.
I’ve been trying to avoid commenting, and to just let you guys put your thoughts in without interruption from me. But, I want to add a couple of little thoughts.
First, I love how you are injecting some humor as well as some seriousness into your comments: it is both comical and annoying how we can sometimes let the tail wag the dog. I enjoy seeing you be light-hearted about this. So, thank you for both types of comments.
@Bill: tomorrow I get my Pocket PC back from the friend I had loaned it to and it will be wiped clean again. I am tempted to take you up on your challenge, except that I will probably add either Agenda Fusion or Pocket Informant back onto my PPC, and I will probably add PhatNotes. The basic PIM stuff on the PPC just doesn’t give me the ability to zip through my Task Lists and Notes as well as the added programs do. And, I will almost certainly add in my ebook reader programs, because the VGA Pocket PCs do provide a good reading experience and that will help me to continue to resist the temptation to get a Kindle.
My real test is going to come when I have lunch with my friend tomorrow and he shows me his new iPAQ 211: it will no doubt tempt me to buy one. I think I will be able to continue to resist doing so, until my x51v gives up the ghost. But, I will be seriously tempted: I am a sucker for high quality technology and the 211 is probably a huge step up in quality over the x51v … we’ll have to see how this temptation works out.
Bruce, part of me is hoping no one will take me up on my challenge! I like PI 8, I like PhatNotes, I like FlexMail 4, I like Pocket MindMap… oh, I could go on and on.
But a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. If there are any takers, I’ll make good on my word (he said, praying he wouldn’t be put to the test).
yes, most defiantly. it is information at your fingertips overload. way too much tech for a single person and your time management has to be worked on to keep up with the technology. if you don’t manage it time slips away from you by use of a lot of technological devices.
i love the mindmap and a few other sections. great points!
@Bill: I have to agree with Bruce on that count – my PDA is unusable without Pocket Informant. If we can negotiate on including just one 3rd party tool (take ur pick) into the baseline configuration, then I am game.
P.S. just to make ur lives a tad more complicated, I think WEBIS is offering pocket informant free through trial pay, if you buy something (ex: flowers) from their participating vendors.
@prashanth: “If we can negotiate on including just one 3rd party tool (take ur pick) into the baseline configuration, then I am game.”
After I issued my challenge I realized I rely on Pocket Informant, FlexMail, and PhatNotes to make my PDA more “GTD friendly.” So at this point I’m not exactly crushed there weren’t any takers for my challenge.
Sigh…
My name is Bill Myers, and I’m a technoholic.
By the way, I didn’t mean to suggest that resetting a PDA back to factory specs would be the only acceptable “ante” to satisfy my challenge. My thought was to encourage people to take *any* step that would help them master technology rather than serving it.
So, upon further thought, if anyone is still interested in taking me up on the challenge… it’s still on the table. Even if taking my PDA back to the original config will like give me a case of the cyber-DTs and leave me throwing up uncontrollably in the company restroom while I beg for my Pocket Informant back.
Well, I’ve just had a total relapse and I think I must back down from my own challenge. I just grabbed an e-mail from work asking me to do something at the 11th hour and I was able to do it all from my PDA rather than having to fire up my laptop, all because of the 3rd party apps I loaded onto the PDA. That saved me some time.
Like Capo, however, I am sure I could quit if I wanted to.
You know, it just occurred to me that the alcoholics who are most in need of help are the ones who don’t even recognize they have a problem. I wonder if it is the same with serious technoholics. Maybe those of us who recognize we have to work at keeping technology from controlling us are in better shape than the ones who don’t even recognize it.
And, Bill, you raise a good point about PDAs: “properly loaded” they can save your butt when you don’t have access to a laptop or just don’t want to fool with the hassle of starting one up.