Brandon Coppernoll Internet marketing, social media, web based strategy and development in Indiana

Do you read the “User Manual?”

On any given day I'm sure that many of you in a service or product-based industry have run into daily questions and concerns about something you provide that could be solved only with a few moments reading the help documentation you sent. I'm a victim of this and sometimes the villain as well when I'm trying to work with something I am unfamiliar with and want answers right away.

In this day in age I find it surprising how many people never even look at the help or user manuals that product providers send with their goods. It's almost staggering. Any time I am diving into a new development tool or CMS platform I try to read as much information as possible to get better acquainted before I start pushing buttons and trying things. On a personal level I always look at the user manual when I buy a new video game. I like to have an idea what I'm getting myself into before I am blown away by some polygonal-based villain.

So my question is how often do you refer to the manual? Do you look at it before you start using the product or service? Do you use it only when something is not working right? Do you only look at it to give someone a call or shoot them an email detailing your struggles?

The other side of the question is how often after you discuss with someone at the company that provided the manual have you found the answer was in the manual itself? I am very curious about this. It's really not meant to be a rant even though I guess it came out this way. Are any self-starters out there?

HOW TO: Scale the proverbial “brick wall”

My wife will be the first to tell you at times I take on too much. I am one of those people that can easily fall into the trap of being too busy. My mind goes a million miles per hour, and sometimes I conveniently forget where the brake is and go full speed into an organizational nightmare wall. Luckily I'm usually perceptive enough to know when I've actually hit that wall.

For me a lack of organization causes anxiety in my personal life and career. I like to have focus. I like to be able to look at an objective and almost "see" the path I need to take to reach that goal. Sometimes chasing too many objectives causes the paths to cross or even worse become lost in all of the hustle.

So what do you do when you have hit the brick wall? What do you do when you realize that you've taken on too much? Here's what I've done in the past:

• Slow down! Take things one day at a time.
• Slim down! Organize your goals into smaller groups or specific time lines. Don't try to do too much at any given time.
• Focus! In your career or even family life it's too easy to try to multitask to make sure that everything gets done. Sometimes it's okay if today something does not get done while the other things you do are actually getting accomplished. It's better to have one or two goals met than six unfinished goals.

I'm at a point in my life where I need to step back, re-evaluate and lay the groundwork to topple that "brick wall". I need to focus on one career goal and one family goal for the time being. Once I accomplish those I am going to move on. In my day-to-day proceedings I will be doing the same but on a much smaller scale.

How do you know when you've hit your wall? What do you do to scale it or topple it over?