Last week, I showed a client in her 70's how to organize several folders on her laptop. All contained documents for her work but were not in any kind of order – not the right documents in the right folders. What I call ‘wonky.’
By the time we were done, there were three folders each containing the same type of items: lecture notes, student rosters, and images – just what she wanted. As we finished up a lesson, she said, “Thank you for never saying this is easy.”
I knew what she meant. It’s scary to learn something new. How do I know this?
I was stay-at-home mom for 12 years. Twelve years! I barely knew how to use our Mac when I got a job in an office that had PCs. When I asked the 25-year-olds around me how to open a new tab, and they would reach over my shoulder to the keyboard, click, click, click, and walk away. Basically, they were saying it was easy.
It wasn’t easy. It was scary.
So when I was working with this client, I didn’t say, “This is easy.” I said, “Look at you! Last week, you didn’t know how to do that. And look at you now.”
She then smiled up at me and said, “Okay. Now, how do I find the most recent lecture notes?” And we were off and running again.
Nancy Spear Nancy's Tech Help for Older Adults info@nancys-tech-help.com
310-365-9951