Here’s how to unbox the opportunity of the internet

Seconds from 2017, without planning to, I went on a Google search to find something brand new to take into the new year with me.

In the last few months of 2016, I had adopted a new habit. Whenever I was getting “no’s” from people to my ideas or suggestions, I would say to myself and to all present, “There are 7.5 billion ways to solve that problem. So that was one way…what is another!”

I am not sure where I got that from, probably from church, but before I went to bed each night, I wanted to get a skill quite on purpose. And so I went to YouTube and saw a video amongst my suggestions, from one of my new subscriptions. “Ramit Sethi Shares Bootstrapping Tactics for I Will Teach You To Be Rich – Hustle Con 2016”.

I watched only 5 minutes of it and I got the answer I was looking for (In fact much more than I had expected). What I learned is “testing”.

I have always known about testing, but I have limited it to certain activities. Testing a sales pitch. Testing a new employee. But I have never used it broadly on everything. It is also called finding “Life Hacks”.

So this year 2017, I am planning to use the biggest life hack of our times, the INTERNET. It is a panacea. There Is No Problem You Cannot Solve Using The Internet.

On the internet (of course) a life hack is defined as,

..any trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method that increases productivity and efficiency, in all walks of life. The term was primarily used by computer experts who suffer from information overload or those with a playful curiosity in the ways they can accelerate their workflow in ways other than programming.

The term life hack was coined in 2004 during the O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference in San Diego, California by technology journalist Danny O’Brien to describe the “embarrassing” scripts and shortcuts productive IT professionals use to get their work done.

Today you can find it on online dictionaries easily because it has crossed over to be a mainstream word now.

One of the key things done by Life Hackers is experimenting with life – running tests so that you see results.

For example, say you want to increase your productivity. And decide to run 4 x 1 week tests, which you will base on the knowledge you have gathered from the internet.

Try Tim Ferris at www.fourhourworkweek.com and David Allen’s book Getting Things Done, check out his video on Youtube and this resource on the difference between busy and effective people.

You then DO all 4 tests. This will be your data collecting period. When all the data is collected you then make an educated decision. What I would advise is to do testing on

1. Longstanding problems that you have had for years and have tried to solve here and there but no matter what keep popping up as something that you REALLY need to change.
2. Key or Pivotal activities in your life that you know are the game changer activities should they be improved. For example more effective at /identifying/articulating problems so that you can solve them quicker.
3. What it really takes to achieve your goals (a lot of myths get busted during this one I tell you!)

Helping you harness the internet’s opportunity

This year, as Techzim, we are offering a new service. We can come around to your company/workplace and give an In-House Tech Talk.

These talks will be designed to help you harness more of THE OPPORTUNITY OF THE INTERNET in your workplace with your co-workers.

Technology is moving faster and faster, and there is so much that is out there that you do not know about. We can show you a few of those things, help you a little or we can help you A LOT!

Drop an email at sales@techzim.co.zw if you want to know more.