I’ve always been fascinated by technology. I’ve also always been fascinated by working with people.

As a classic Industrial Engineer, my whole career revolved around exploring how people and systems (aka, technology) come together to make things happen.

Early in my career, I learned several different programming languages. I was an early adopter of the PC. 

Later on, when I didn’t see the use case for something or was forced to learn some technology, I wasn’t as eager about it. My company installed a business and operations software called SAP towards the end of my career and I wasn’t a fan of it.

Now that I’m creating my Encore Career, it’s all up to me. I don’t have anyone to “handle” the tech for me. I’m an entrepreneur and I’ve got to learn it on my own. 

Last week on Creating Your Encore Career, I dove into this further and discussed my love/hate relationship with technology.

 

My Struggles with Technology

There have been a few things that were particularly challenging to me when I transitioned to an Encore Career. Here are just a few of them. Maybe you relate to the challenges I’ve worked through.

1. I’m used to working on a desktop or laptop. Now, mobile is much more common and that’s been difficult for me.

2. In the past, I’ve typically been one who reads manuals. This has caused me to be slow to adopt the YouTube method for learning.

3. I’ve found it hard to practice my new tech skills in public.

4. My corporate background trained me to never make mistakes. When learning new skills in your Encore Career, you have to be willing to make mistakes in order to learn and this has been a challenge for me.

Overcoming the Challenges

As I said, these challenges were particularly hard because, in your Encore Career, it’s all up to you. All the possible tech skills can be overwhelming. There is also the risk of the “shiny object” syndrome. 

To try and get my arms around all of this, I started looking at it this way: Why, How, and Who. 

Ask, why is this particular technology useful in my Encore Career? 

For the how, you may not need to know how to use a tool fluently but just how it works. What are the overall principles in it and what do you need to know about it even if you’re not good at it? 

Finally, ask who. Do you have the resources to hire someone who can help you with this tech and who is that person?

Technloogies You Need

Following is a broad list of technology categories you should look into. It’s not an exhaustive list but is a great place to start if you’re new to your Encore Career or tech in general.

1. Communication: email, messenger, etc.

2. Collaboration: Slack, Zoom

3. Visibility: Website, Podcast, Social media, eComm, Loom

4. Marketing: ConvertKit, CoSchedule, Calendly

5. Productivity: Evernote, Last Pass, Rev, Temi, Buffer

6. Business: Quickbooks, Paypal, Stripe, Venmo

All of this is doable. Get support, use trial and error, and you’ll figure tech out.