To my non-English-as-a-first-language readers, I apologize. Our language is hard enough without yahoos like me purposely writing bad grammar. Let Lynda Teach You works grammatically, but doesn’t amuse me. I remember playing with the neighbor farm boys as a kid. They’d often get angry with their brothers and threaten, “I’ll learn you to not do that again.” They also taught me a colorful spectrum of profanity that one wouldn’t expect from Mennonite farm kids.

But grammar and weird childhood memories aside, what can Lynda teach us? She can keep us current in the constantly changing computer and technology world. Lynda.com provides short instructional videos that deliver tech skills quickly at a low cost. Go to the site and watch a few videos. They allow you to watch some for free, though charge $25/month for full access.

Now I generally avoid paying for websites, yet I see a value here. I’d certainly pay $25 for a book on a software program that I use and would like to use better. I’ve often plowed through long books, trying to improve various computer skills. This video training model, being able to drill down to the topic of interest then watch someone do what you want to learn, really works.

For example, I’ve previously counseled everyone to get a gmail account and start to use Google for email, calendars and contacts. The free cloud based products work so much better than Outlook in every respect. And they are available anytime from any of your devices (office computer, laptop, smart phone, tablet computer, etc) and always current. All your My Document hard drive files and job drawing files can also be live synced to the always be available, whether you’re on the job site, on vacation or getting a hot beverage at Starbucks.

So schedule some time to improve your process. If you don’t, your success rate will fall over time. Decide when you will grab some time to learn with Lynda. Pay your $25 and watch a series of videos about Goggle Calendar Essential Training or how to really use Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Tips and Tricks to change your business.

Remember, the smart and fast beat the big and slow. Recall the immortal words of WC Fields, “You don’t want to be a Jabbernow. You don’t want to be a FuddyDuddy. You don’t want to be a Mooncalf. You don’t want to be those things, do you Lud?”