Digital Nomads: Upgrading Your Technology Is An Investment, Not Consumption

I’ve been using the same computer and smartphone since before 2010.

 

I’ve used these devices on my 3-year round-the-world trip, and they’ve gotten slower and slower… and slower.

 

Word had a tendency to freeze my computer. My iPhone couldn’t handle the AirBnB app. Sometimes my devices wouldn’t even charge.

 

Worst, I got used to the slow speed. I forget that I was working in slow motion. I was used to waiting 10 seconds for an Excel document to open, going to refill my coffee as a webpage loaded, or quitting out of my web browser before having a Skype call.

 

As my computers slowed down, my business slowed down. It takes twice as long to do anything. Every now and then a program crashed and lost my work.

 

The benefit is that I outsourced things to other people reflexively. The negative realization was that I was outsourcing out of desperation, asking someone else for help because my computer didn’t have the power to do it quickly.

 

So, I got an upgrade last month. New i7 core laptop, new iPhone X. This technology is a decade ahead of my old laptop and phone.

 

I. Almost. Cried.

 

Everything works… quickly.

 

I no longer bring external batteries with me to networking events for fear that my phone will unexpectedly die.

 

I can video chat, have YouTube running, and zip through Google Drive simultaneously.

 

I can set tight deadlines to push through work, knowing that my computer will help me instead of slowing me down.

 

The cool features like ‘Hey Siri’ and facial recognition make me smile, but what stands out most is that I am relearning to trust my technology. I’m also working through my slow-technology PTSD. Perhaps I should talk to a psychologist.

 

My technology is my office, and for years the printer didn’t work, the telephone lines were cut, and the pens were out of ink.

 

If You’re A Digital Nomad With An Internet Business… The Tech Upgrade Is A Business Investment

 

You are slow if your technology is slow. Your business is slow if your technology is slow.

 

I didn’t upgrade my computer for such a long time for 2 reasons. First, I have had very little money for the majority of the time since I left the USA. (Remember when I lived on $1/day in Asia?) Second, I felt like it was an unnecessary ‘consumer’ purchase, these are Apple products after all.

 

But as the tech slowed down even more, as I slowed down, I realized that it wasn’t consumption, but a business investment with a massive ROI. So, I made the purchase.

 

If you are a digital nomad reading this on a slow decade-old device, you should do the same.