Putting up with the little things.

If you've seen me around, you would notice that I have a tablet with me. I was given the opportunity to play with this toy for two months and get paid for it. It was a pretty sweet deal. 

Once I received the tablet, I immediately found out things that didn't work for me. There were no arrow buttons to get my cursor where I wanted, the response to my finger wasn't as accurate or quick enough and the layout didn't follow my common sense. After a while, I noticed that I started to put up with it. I was taking the extra time to deal with the inefficiency of this time suck. 

Soon I realized that there were other things in my life that I was putting up with. Granted, these are minor things but they have been in the back of my head sucking up my time and energy for a while. For example, have you tried to go back back a year in your Google calendar from your phone or tablet and find that your schedule has disappeared? Or how about trying to find the freaking "print black only" button on your HP PSC 1200 printer?  Instead of being nagged each time I come across the issue, I finally decided to look it up. It took about 10 minutes on each issue, but I have the answer. I found out that the devices, my phone and tablet, don't sync up that far my on my calendar. In actuality, all of my events in the past are still stored safely online. HP PSC 1200 printer doesn't have a print black only function. Who knew that I had to ask that question before I bought the printer? (I do... now)

Through the practice of finding out the answers to my questions, I noticed that the pursuit to find the solution isn't as common as it was once before. The habit is to put up with it, to deal with it and to work around it. Even though it will have us waste time, energy and money. 

What's different now that I know the answers to my questions, is that the questions never come up anymore. I get to use my brain to answer a different question. I get to ask "What's next?" If you're always stuck on one question, you're unable to explore other questions that may lead you to expand your business, fulfill your dreams or even be happy for the day. What's the question that you're putting up with? What's the question you can answer right now?