{"id":1983,"date":"2021-02-24T22:22:26","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T04:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:10043\/when-tech-rage-threatens-here-are-6-ways-to-keep-your-cool\/"},"modified":"2024-08-19T09:32:14","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T15:32:14","slug":"when-tech-rage-threatens-here-are-6-ways-to-keep-your-cool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/when-tech-rage-threatens-here-are-6-ways-to-keep-your-cool\/","title":{"rendered":"When &#8216;tech rage&#8217; threatens, here are 6 ways to keep your cool"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By JJ Rosen, Atiba Founder &amp; CEO. This article originally appeared in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennessean.com\/story\/money\/tech\/2021\/02\/01\/six-strategies-managing-stress-when-technology-behaves-badly\/4285748001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Tennessean<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Frustration has set in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">After nearly a year of pandemic-life, it\u2019s understandable why anyone would be at their wits\u2019 end.\u00a0 Trapped at home, worrying about everything from work to school to whether it\u2019s safe to go to the grocery \u2014 it\u2019s enough to put all of us on edge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">That\u2019s why I wasn\u2019t completely surprised when I walked into our home office to find my normally easygoing wife having a serious argument with our laser printer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">After half an hour of rebooting, downloading new printer drivers, and reciting tech-god prayers, she was no longer messing around.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">No matter how much she chastised the machine, it refused to budge.\u00a0 With its blinking red lights and random beeps, it seemed to almost take joy in taunting her as it held its ground.\u00a0 She was fuming as she demanded that it print the one-page document she needed.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"gnt_ar_b_h2\">When tech behaves badly<\/h2>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">\u201cTech rage\u201d has always been common, even in more mellow times.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Whether it\u2019s cursing your computer out or physically assaulting it, who among us has never felt their anger boiling over when a piece of technology fails?<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">As an IT consultant, I have both witnessed tech-rage and suffered from it myself here and there.\u00a0 Much like its more notorious cousin \u201croad rage,\u201d tech rage can summon up intense feelings of anger that we all know are illogical, but nevertheless are very real.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\n<div id=\"ad-slot-7103-tn-nashville-C1056-native-article_link-tech-3\" class=\"gnt_x_sl gnt_x_al\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"lazyLoadX\" data-google-query-id=\"CITYraPGg-8CFT0jswAd20QBtg\">\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The psychology around tech rage is rooted in our expectations of social norms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Just like we have norms in our interactions with people, we have deeply ingrained social norms in our interactions with technology.\u00a0\u00a0 We expect our computer to boot up, our internet to work, our software to run smoothly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">When any of these human-tech interactions fail unexpectedly, just like when a co-worker lets us down, we tend to become irritated. \u00a0Throw in an important deadline or a critical task, and irritation can quickly morph into frustration followed by all-out rage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"gnt_ar_b_h2\">Prepare for the inevitable<\/h2>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">So, when it\u2019s your turn for evil tech forces to rain down upon you, how can you keep tech rage from taking over?<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The first line of defense against tech rage is simply to avoid unexpected tech disasters in the first place. Proactive tech rage vaccines include:<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong>Backup, backup, backup.\u00a0<\/strong>This is the most important thing you can do.\u00a0 Having a reliable tested offsite backup (to the cloud) will reduce your stress level when you are having a bad tech day.\u00a0 Great peace of mind comes from knowing that no matter what happens, your data is safe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong>Don\u2019t skimp on security.<\/strong>\u00a0 A virus or malware is the most common instigator of tech rage.\u00a0 Since the safest fix is completely reinstalling everything from scratch, it\u2019s worth taking IT security seriously.\u00a0 Update your phone and computer with the latest patches every week and use any popular anti-virus software (AVG, Norton, McAfee) to stay safe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong>Replace your hardware before it breaks.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Old PCs, old smart phones, and old printers become sluggish and have a higher failure rate as they age.\u00a0 Especially if you depend on your tech for work, upgrading every few years will reduce your tech stress levels.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">But even being proactive is not a 100% guarantee of tech serenity.\u00a0 Just like your car, changing the oil every three months is good, but it could still break.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">So, when your computer breaks and your blood pressure begins to rise, there are a few techniques you can use to reduce stress:<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong>Use your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/network-support-services\/\">support network.<\/a> \u00a0<\/strong>A responsive and friendly IT support company or a patient friend can quickly diffuse even the most intense tech rage.\u00a0 Just like a good therapist, a good tech support person who is solution-oriented and non-judgmental is invaluable.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong>Treasure hunt on Google.<\/strong>\u00a0 There is a 100% chance that your tech issue is not unique. \u00a0YouTube, blogs, and vendor tech <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/on-site-remote-it-support\/\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"665\">support sites<\/a> give you the upper hand when you are in the throes of a tech battle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong>Accept what you cannot control.\u00a0<\/strong>This is the universal mantra for any stressful situation \u2014 always important to remember when dealing with technology.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">In the end, my wife decided to take the \u201cuse your support network\u201d path and call a friend.\u00a0 When I reminded her that I was an IT consultant and was ready to help, she reminded me that I should have replaced the old printer years ago.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By JJ Rosen, Atiba Founder &amp; CEO. This article originally appeared in The Tennessean.\u00a0 Frustration has set in. After nearly a year of pandemic-life, it\u2019s understandable why anyone would be at their wits\u2019 end.\u00a0 Trapped at home, worrying about everything from work to school to whether it\u2019s safe to go to the grocery \u2014 it\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":1984,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[171,175,173,174,176,172],"class_list":["post-1983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-atiba-news","tag-it-support","tag-tech-help","tag-tech-rage","tag-tech-support","tag-technology","tag-tennessean"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}