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How to Keep Up with Technology Trends

Why is it important to keep up with technology trends in the workplace and at home

Importance of keeping up with technology trends

Being able to fit in with technology trends in the workplace is now a basic requirement.  As an employee it is usually a condition of employment that you will be up to date with the appropriate technology and software. If you are self-employed you really have to be on top of trends in the use of social media.  This requires the use of up-to-date technology and software.

Technology moves pretty fast today.  You don’t need to own all the newest gadgets and the latest toys.  However knowing how to use readily available technology is important

It can be pretty seriously overwhelming to keep up with all the tech that’s constantly coming out. And then there’s all the updates and upgrades that come along. If there isn’t a new laptop coming out every year, there’s a new tablet.  If it’s not one of those then it’s going to be a new version of the latest smartphone. New devices are released on a schedule that seems relentless.

Is it all a bit too much?

Some of us have grown a bit disillusioned with the modern state of consumerism. It can be pretty easy to feel like these devices exist just for the sake of existing, and it can seem like people want to buy them for few reasons other than the fact that they want to have the shiniest or most expensive new toy on the market.

In reality it can be useful to keep yourself up to date on the latest technological advances. You never know what you might discover when you open yourself up to the advantages of technology.  Let’s consider some of the main reasons to stay current with technology trends.

Three good reasons to keep up with technology trends in the workplace

It’s a requirement for most employees

If you are an employee, or a job seeker, you must keep current on what’s happening in technology that impacts the sort of business in which you are involved. This is especially true if you work in an industry that utilizes tools like tablets, smartphones or computers.

To avoid ageist discrimination

Even if you don’t work in an industry that’s directly related to technology, there’s a good chance that at one point or another you’ll come into contact with some of the more recently-developed technologies that are available on the market.  To avoid being the target of ageist discrimination it is important to make sure you’re familiar with what is happening in the technology related to your work. Nothing ages an older worker faster, in the eyes of their work colleagues, than being incompetent with technology.

To run a business

It would be virtually impossible to run a contemporary business without keeping up with technology trends.  From financial interactions and record keeping through to social media marketing, everything demands a knowledge of how to use technology to your advantage.

Two good reasons to keep up with technology trends at home

Research whatever you want to know about

It’s also very nice to know what’s available in terms of technology so that you can be having the most convenient and exciting life possible!  Researching your next holiday, your family tree, real estate, what movie to go and see….It’s all available to you so easily online.  Your technology doesn’t have to be the very latest gadget, but so long as you can access the internet and communicate using a smart phone you are able to take advantage of all the great advantages that technology has given us.

Keeping in touch with family and friends

Not many grandparents had the option to connect with their grandchildren over the Internet prior to about ten years ago, but now even if your family live a whole world away you can connect using Skype and hold conversations as if they were in the next room.  Grandchildren, separated by distance, can regularly chat with their grandparents and grow up knowing them as a real person, not just a name, a photograph and a birthday gift in the mail.

Without the opportunity of catching up regularly, at least you can know what your friends from other parts of the country or the world are doing.  You can see their photos to maintain that sense of connectedness. And how wonderful it is when you find an old friend through social media, or connect with relatives via a genealogical site!

When you open yourself up to the newest technologies you open yourself up to new and exciting possibilities. It’s easy to see why so many people use the tools that they do these days .  Your career and your life can expand in wonderful ways when you keep up with technology trends.

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Updated October 16 2019

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Jenni Proctor

Hi, I'm Jenni Proctor from Boomers Next Step. Remember when the formula for success in life was simply to strive for good marks at school, gain qualifications, get a great job, work hard and save for your retirement? Yes, I believed it too! For years my husband David and I wanted to develop a business that we could operate anywhere in the world, but both of us were educated to be employees.  We had entrepreneurial dreams and ideas, but still had employee mindsets. 14 years ago I took the giant leap!  I left my job in Education to start a business as a Career Counsellor and Coach, helping mature adults transition from one career path to another, and particularly from employment to entrepreneurship.  I had studied long and hard to gain new qualifications but sadly I hadn’t learnt how to market my new business. About 12 years ago we realized that we were not tracking well towards having the sort of retirement we wanted. We’d saved; we’d invested; and like so many other people we’d also lost some money along the way. It didn’t help that my business was not bringing in as much as I had been earning as an employee. Our dreams of extensive travel and helping our family were being replaced by a growing concern that we would outlive our savings. It seemed that a traditional retirement would not allow us to maintain the lifestyle we wanted. I love helping people plan the next phase of their lives, but we realized that was not going to be enough.  We needed a way to create an income stream that would pay for the travel and other lifestyle luxuries we wanted, that would provide mental stimulation, and would interest us both.

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