I recently boarded a plane to Los Angeles for work. I travel a lot for work, like some of you, so I feel I’ve got a bit of a routine down. And that routine involves technology. And lots of it.

So I got to the airport exactly one hour before my boarding time. I had my airline phone app all ready to go with my boarding pass. But when I got to the airport, suddenly my trusty app stopped working. So no boarding pass. I tried to shut my phone off and then on again. Still, the app was not working. I then downloaded the app update – still, it wasn’t working.

I had to go to the airline check-in counter. There, I encountered a line at least 45 minutes long. I looked around and saw that some airlines had installed automated kiosks for getting a printed boarding pass. Yes, I thought, technology! I can get a printed pass, not wait in line, and then be on my merry way. All was right in the world!

I got to the kiosk and picked my airline. It then asked me a few questions. What’s my last name? Which credit card did I use to book the flight? I dug my card out of my wallet and inserted it into the machine. I put it in the wrong way, and it couldn’t read it. Then, I had to start all over again. 

Finally, after hitting more buttons and answering more questions, a button popped up to print.  Perhaps a machine is much better than a human! There must be redundancies built into the complex algorithms in the system to allow for these types of occasions when things aren’t working. Technology is the best! Right? Easy Peasy! I’m gonna get my boarding pass right now!  And as soon as my finger extended to hit the “print” button, a message popped up on the screen. “Out of paper,” it read.  

Needless to say, I had to wait back in line, and a human printed out a pass for me. I wish these stories were rare. But you and I and the whole world know that these things happen every day to just about everyone all the time. And this was a relatively minor case! What happens when tech fails us at even greater consequence? It turns out that our love for technology pushes us further and further into the warm lull of comfort. And within comfort, creativity dies.  

So why are we so in love with technology? And what are a couple of things we can do today about our love of the false prophet to counter the drive of technology to inundate every facet of our being?

• Do things old school sometimes.

I am not suggesting that we abandon all technology and go back to the golden olden days, which were not so great to begin with. But what I am suggesting is that sometimes we supplement our technology with an approach of humanity and learning. One that deals with having a person complete a task instead of a computer.  

• Focus on one thing at a time.

In my book, I talk about how multitasking is a myth, and this myth becomes more and more relevant each day because multitasking is really a waste of time. But everyone is trying to get more and more done with what little time we have. The thing is, focusing on one thing at a time gets more done. I know it seems counterintuitive. But it’s true. When we allow ourselves to focus on one thing at a time, we allow creativity to enter our lives.  

I hope that these two techniques can be taken out for a test drive by you soon so that you can see their qualities begin to work in your life and career. I am sure that using these techniques will give you a better shot of developing a Creator Mindset in all you do.