First day of school is a hectic, happy day.
The biggest learning for me today was formatting Excel sheets with long-winded words! I needed to format some documents and was feeling hopeless after a while, when I suddenly remembered the lesson from my daughter.
Like every other child, Neetima seems to be born with the inherent talent of being able to figure out new remotes, cell phones and other gadgets with ease that would surprise and at the same time annoy most normal adults! Micky and I remember how after shifting to our new apartment we looked around for the chimney switch for the stove top till Neetima figured out a way to run it. Like many parents we conveniently started handing her all remotes and new electronic items we bought, to figure out and teach to our helper. Micky and my infinite wisdom of "Let her figure it out, so that she can learn...." gradually morphed into "Let her figure it out because it will take us too long to learn...."!!!
Neetima says that all modern software/gadgets are intuitive or at least the creators try to make them intuitive. So the best way to learn is to use the 'hunter-gatherer' exploration style. She says, "Think about how a hunter-gatherer would explore something new. He/she would touch, feel, see, hear, taste things, shake them, move them around and perhaps even throw them and try to figure it out. Similarly when we wish to explore a new gadget, we should touch, slide, move, press different keys which appear 'natural' to us. Don't over-analyse and just do it!' I often use this advice and it definitely works provided I am not working under pressure. (Else I get my expert office colleagues or Neetima of course to help! :))
Neetima's advice worked today and after some initial exploration I stumbled on to a quick way of doing what I needed. The trick now would be to remember it for the next time. I am sure I can....
....else I can always go back to the 'hunter-gatherer' exploration style.
Love you Neetima!
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