I am a do-er. In the sense, that I don’t like to delegate. I pick up the shovel and dig deep and get my hands dirty. I don’t mind hard labor or following up on my efforts. And I think that’s a trait I’ve had for most of my life. I cannot supervise and motherhood has been a tough journey for me. Waiting for the kids to take that first step, say that first word, try to get them to make fuller, longer sentences, write neater, orate better- it’s always been tough to sit and watch while they did it. But I have to say, the results have been better than stellar.
And while I have enjoyed and still enjoy a lot of the work I do manually, I also like to use my devices. I have all these tiny gadgets, from the epilators that replaced shaving razors to electric blankets that replaced fireplaces to help keep me warm, to Nutri-Cook that make cooking an easier, less messier and more manageable chore when compared to the traditional pressure cookers, to the blenders that puree my soups and chutneys when compared to the stone mills my mom used to make me use to make the paste or to the many apps I use on my many devices to automate a large part of my life. I. Love. My. Devices.
I continue to be a do-er. Just a lot more proficient in getting things done. A lot of the time, I am managing and automating my chores to ensure I have a little more time to stand and stare. The temptation of a balcony on the 41st floor does hold an allure. Things that I have automated include and is not restricted to, using Eufy to sweep and sometimes mop my apartment, using bots and AI to stalk my kids to and from their various classes or my husband travelling via flights across seven seas, using apps to order groceries and perishables. Dictating to my computer, because sometimes you really don’t want to sit at the computer. Or using Siri and Alexa for a little help adding chores, setting alarms, timers, reminders, I use them all. Using pedometers to calculate how many steps I take every single day. Or using an automated skipping rope that counts my skipping rope movement when I exercise or using songs to time my skips. I’m a hussy when it comes to using a thingamajig to get my work done.
So, when ChatGPT was launched, I was super thrilled. I’ve used Wikipedia to look for information, used google to do generic searches, used trends to identify topics, found reviews and feedback on reddit or Quora forums, spend endless hours on Grammarly and SEO tools, to identify and modify content so they can be relevant and recent and right. But, if you are a content person, you already know that this entire list of activities is a weeklong one. And if someone has created something that can take that weekly effort of yours and reduce it to just a few minutes, why would you not be thrilled. I am ecstatic. This means, my first draft is ready in a few minutes and the information I now have will give me an idea of the information that is available online. All I have to do is to point it in the direction I want it to take and use analogies my audience will understand.
And this is just one of the apps I use online to make my life just that little bit easier. 80% of the time I feel guilty that I am using technology and how unfair it is when compared to when I was a child growing up in the ‘burbs’. But I calm myself down thinking, that this is the new normal today. If someone is identifying a way to reduce the effort it takes to complete a chore specially ones that are repetitive and mundane, then we should utilize these apps and test them and make them that much more efficient and make the time to actually spend time with our family.
If the pandemic has taught me anything, it’s the importance of family and friends and how little control we have on our lives. So, I continue to be a do-er, doing things using the apps and technologies that are now a part of the new normal. How about you? Do you use apps? How many apps do you use? And for what? Feel free to send me a list.
Just a little more 