The Writing Life: Like A Frog in a Kettle

It happened over months so I didn't notice it. I'm talking about the slowness of my computer. In the mornings, it took forever to get on a website and other functions. My computer was acting like a frog in a kettle. Let me explain. Many years ago, I interviewed George Barna about his book, The Frog in the Kettle (which has a subtitle with the year 2000 so you know it is dated). George told the story in his book. If you put a frog in water, the frog will not notice if you raise the temperature of the water. Eventually the frog will die because he is unaware of the rising temperature of his water.

I was having a “frog in a kettle”-like experience with my computer. Without being aware of it, the computer was getting slower. Finally last weekend, the slowness built to a crisis. My Google Chrome browser crashed. I could not get on a single new website. Thankfully I had a version of Internet Explorer on my computer and it allowed me to get online.

Several years ago I began to use the Geek Squad. In fact, every year I pay them an annual fee. They are on call 24 hours a day seven days a week. I called their toll-free number then followed the instructions to reach them online. I explained my tech problem and the technician remotely took over my computer. He analysized my problem, cleaned up my computer and reinstalled Google Chrome. The process took several hours but everything was working when he finished. Also I knew the Geek Squad would probably need to reboot my browser. Before I reached out to them, I made sure I saved open files on my computer so no matter what someone else did, I would not lose any information in this process.

The surprising result is my computer came back to life. The slowness disappeared and everything is workng faster and better.

Be aware of these types of issues for your own computer. I'm going to make a note in my reminders to contact the Geek Squad for a general maintenance at least every quarter. I'm paying annually for their expertise but I need to proactively ask for their help. Take a few minutes to think about your own writing life. What frog in the kettle experience are you having? Maybe your writing is getting harder to do each day. Maybe you are struggling to sell your book and need to change something in this area. There are several keys in this process:

1. Awareness. Without awareness, you will continue on the same path.

2. Asking for help. Many situations we can't handle on our own and need to ask others for help.

3. Taking action to make a change. You need to take action to change your situation.

4. Regular maintenance. Take preventive steps so this situation does not happen in the future.

No one wants to be a frog in a kettle but it happens. Have you ever had this situation happen to you? Let me know in the comments below.

Tweetable:

As a writer, have you ever been like a frog in a kettle? This prolific editor and author gives his “frog in the kettle” experience in this article and how he took steps to change. Get the details here. (ClickToTweet)