What a week I’ve had! Those pesky e-fairies have been messing with me. One after another something went wrong with my computer: I had accounts closed, accounts threatened to be blocked, and several contacts’ emails just disappeared into cyberspace! What did I do? I took a deep breath, calmed myself down and started repairing the “damage.”

The closed account was income producing, making it a bit hard to see gone. However, after really looking at the stats, I realized it wasn’t bringing in a significant amount of money. Losing that meager source wasn’t a big deal, so good-bye, on to other projects.

My threatened account was easily fixed by adding more value and text to the site. Hopefully, the improvement will attract more visitors, and , ideally, more sales.

The disappearance of the email addresses was a little harder to fix. Some of the contacts are only reachable through email, others are friends and I can just call them and ask for their help. I suppose after not hearing from me for awhile, they will contact me. There isn’t anything I can do, except wait.

So it’s been an interesting week. I’ve learned a few lessons that i can share with you.

Don’t panic. When something goes wrong, on the computer or in life, before doing anything, take a moment to calm down and focus. You can’t solve problems when your scattered.

Understand the problem. You can’t jump in and fix anything if you don’t know why it’s “broke.” You waste a lot of time, and possibly money, trying to repair it if you don’t know how it became a problem. Read the explanation, if you can: email, letter, or manual.

Be organized.. You won’t make progress by jumping from step to step You need a plan, maybe even going so far as writing down the steps you need to take in the process. Then work methodically and carefully, until the situation is resolved.

BUT…If you can’t figure out a solution, perhaps there isn’t one, let it go! Sometimes, there are things you can’t fix. If that is the case, I suggest you stop worrying about it and move on. Remember, not all projects are going to be worth pursuing. There is only so much time in a day, week, etc. don’t waste it!