No Instant Experts

What do playing the guitar and skiing have in common? Both require many hours of practice to become proficient. This is something I didn't understand growing up. Fortunately being a beginner skier can still be a lot of fun. When I would take guitar lessons as a child or teenager, I would practice for about a month or two and then get frustrated that I didn't know very much. This time I am making the process of learning the guitar a lot of fun and I look forward to practice every day.

So what does any of that have to do with computers and technology? The same rule of practice applies. If you want to get good, then you need to spend some time with the technology. The trick is how to make it fun. Each of us is different and so one solution might not work for everyone.

I once read about someone that wanted to learn how to program computers with a new language. He loaded his computer into his camper and headed into the woods for a week. He then spent one uninterrupted week of running through Donald Knuth's Fundamental Algorithms and turning out computer programs. My wife would never let me get away with that but I always thought that would be the perfect way to learn a new programming language.

I find that the right motivation helps people learn new things as well. I often try to marry learning tasks with something something I really want to do. Back in 2004 I had wanted to learn more about the PostgreSQL database system. I was also part owner in a restaurant and heard a great presentation about customer loyalty systems. I thought it would be fun to use PostgreSQL to help me write a web-based customer loyalty program. So I sat down and designed a system to keep track of customers and reward them with points every time they made a purchase. My program never got used but I did learn a lot about PostgreSQL and made a career of it for quite a while.

If you find yourself frustrated with your computer, just remember that there are no instant experts. It takes time to learn a lot of this stuff. Search engines are your friend and there may be someone who has already solved the problem you are having. If that doesn't work, post your question on a forum and a number of experts may be able to help you out. Who knows. One of them may have learned how to solve your problem by spending a week camping in the woods.