Today while I was working I received a message from my boss that I needed to update a certain application on my work computer. I waited until the end of the day to make the update, and I am so glad I did. I installed the update, and it kept wanting to restart. The problem was it kept restarting without any way for me to stop it! I would get signed back on, and then I would have 2 minutes before it would force me to restart again. It took longer to get signed in than the time I actually had on the computer. After going through this cycle about 5 times I decided I needed to get some help.
Luckily, I have an IT Help Desk, so I called to explain my problem. They had me sign on yet again, and while doing so I warned them that they would have about 2 minutes to remote into my computer and look at anything before it forced another restart. Of course, this time that did not happen. I was able to successfully get into the updated version of my application and I wasn’t forced to restart again. Go figure.
Have you ever had that scenario before? I suspect most of us have. We waste a lot of time and energy on something, and when we finally give in and ask for help, it suddenly has resolved itself, or it takes someone 2 seconds to figure it out for you. Why can we be so stubborn and think that we don’t need help? Why do we waste time and energy on something when we know there are resources available to help? I think this incident is another reminder that it is ok to ask for help, and that asking for help is better than getting frustrated and delaying what needs to be addressed. My hope is that you are able to recognize when you need help before it gets to be too much.