Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to crowdsource the answer. You are probably
Speaker 1: not the first person in the history of humanity to
Speaker 1: encounter whatever problem you are dealing with. In general, people
Speaker 1: want to help, so ask for advice and you'll get
Speaker 1: some good ideas. Whenever we encounter a problem, we can
Speaker 1: try to rely on what we know, but we can
Speaker 1: only know so much. And while sometimes we know what
Speaker 1: we don't know, we can't possibly know what would never
Speaker 1: occur to us. The good news is that in a
Speaker 1: world of almost eight billion people, it is almost certain
Speaker 1: that someone has encountered the same problem you are facing. Yes,
Speaker 1: everyone is special, but we are not that out of
Speaker 1: the mold. So, whether you are trying to figure out
Speaker 1: what to get your teenage nephew for his birthday, how
Speaker 1: to reconcile your love of late night reading with your
Speaker 1: spouse's love of late night TV, or even when to
Speaker 1: go into the office and when to work from home,
Speaker 1: somebody has dealt with this before. Somebody has some hard
Speaker 1: one wisdom. Why not take advantage of that. Your first
Speaker 1: line of inquiry could be your friends, family, and neighbors.
Speaker 1: The person in the house on your street built by
Speaker 1: the same builder has probably faced many of the same issues.
Speaker 1: Your work best friend, no doubt has ideas on when
Speaker 1: it is wise to commute and when to work remotely.
Speaker 1: In this day and age, though you don't have to
Speaker 1: lean on just your immediate networks. The internet can be
Speaker 1: a scary place, but it can also be aderful place
Speaker 1: if you have a problem. All sorts of topics have
Speaker 1: their own communities, and they can tell you what they
Speaker 1: have learned. A quick approach is just to google your question.
Speaker 1: Great gifts for teenage boys, best places to visit in Maui.
Speaker 1: Once you've got some background, you can then turn to
Speaker 1: your own digital networks or online communities. Make sure to
Speaker 1: search through any web pages or past discussions to see
Speaker 1: if someone has asked the exact same question. If so, awesome,
Speaker 1: you will probably get some food for thought or some
Speaker 1: avenues you can explore. If not, post your question. Your
Speaker 1: Facebook friends and Twitter followers will have all sorts of
Speaker 1: ideas on book recommendations for middle schoolers who are into fantasy,
Speaker 1: and of course focused digital communities will have ideas to
Speaker 1: your professional association can be a great resource if you're
Speaker 1: looking to hire for your department. The math teacher blogosphere
Speaker 1: on Twitter is, i'm told, an extraordinary place for all
Speaker 1: things math education, like how to conceptualize division by fractions.
Speaker 1: Parents of twins and multiples have all sorts of tips
Speaker 1: for each other, which you can access through digital networks
Speaker 1: of parents in that same boat. Now, to be sure,
Speaker 1: whether you search the Internet or ask your friends or networks,
Speaker 1: you will get some helpful ideas and some less helpful ideas.
Speaker 1: You can toss that which is obviously ridiculous, scroll on
Speaker 1: past anything that makes you roll your eyes, sounds immoral,
Speaker 1: or just plain crazy. The more complicated situation is for
Speaker 1: ideas in the middle, where you are not sure if
Speaker 1: they are good or not. I spent some time taking
Speaker 1: allergy medicine based on crowdsourced answers about various medical complaints
Speaker 1: I had. These weren't effective because turned out Dr Google
Speaker 1: doesn't know everything, but people had other ideas that did
Speaker 1: prove more fruitful. Your mileage may vary. You do always
Speaker 1: have to do your own research, but if you don't
Speaker 1: even know which direction to research in, things can be tough.
Speaker 1: The crowd can give you some leads so you can
Speaker 1: know what is worth investigating. And then, of course, if
Speaker 1: you get good answers, pay back the favor, report back
Speaker 1: to your online communities with what worked and what didn't,
Speaker 1: and be sure to answer others when they post their problems.
Speaker 1: No one is really alone. We can learn from each
Speaker 1: other in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Yeah, hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod
Speaker 1: that's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from
Speaker 1: my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.