Switch It Off and On Again: Funny Tech Stories (and Why We’re All Winging It)
There’s a running joke in my house that my entire career in tech boils down to one very sophisticated solution:
“Have you tried switching it off and on again?”
I’ve spent years working in tech, have a degree in Computing and IT, and now run a business helping clients with their websites and systems… and yet, more often than not, that’s still my first answer.
My husband finds this endlessly amusing. I call it my “superpower”.
But underneath the joke, there’s actually something quite true about how tech works — and how most of us are figuring things out.
Ever feel like you’re just winging it?
In business. In life. In general adulting.
I do, every single day.
For a long time, “winging it” meant opening up a browser tab and searching for the answer. These days, it might mean asking chatGPT instead. The tools have changed, but the reality hasn’t.
Even working in tech, I don’t have everything stored neatly in my head, ready to go. I still look things up. I still sense-check things. I still try things to see what happens.
And that’s the bit people don’t always see.
Being “good with tech” isn’t what you think
It’s easy to assume that people who work in tech just know everything. That there’s some kind of secret knowledge or system behind the scenes.
But most of the time, it’s much simpler than that.
It’s knowing how to approach a problem without immediately panicking. It’s being willing to try something, even if you’re not completely sure it will work. And increasingly, it’s knowing how to use tools like AI properly — not just to get an answer, but to get a useful one.
Because having access to information isn’t the same as knowing what to do with it.
You can ask AI a question and get a perfectly confident answer… but that doesn’t automatically make it the right one for your situation. Context matters. Experience matters. And sometimes, a bit of trial and error is still part of the process.
Why “switch it off and on again” still works
As basic as it sounds, there’s a reason this is often the first step.
Restarting something gives it a clean slate. It clears the little glitches, resets anything that’s got stuck, and quite often solves the problem without you needing to dig any deeper.
It’s not clever. It’s not complicated. But it works.
And in a way, it reflects how most tech problems get solved. You start with something simple, see what happens, and then take the next step from there.
A small disclaimer about “winging it”
There was a time in my life when this approach didn’t go quite so smoothly.
During my Electronic Engineering days, I managed to blow things up on more than one occasion. Proper sparks, actual consequences — the kind of mistakes you don’t forget in a hurry.
So yes, there are limits to the “just try it and see” approach.
Winging it on your website is one thing. Winging it with live circuits is quite another.
So if the answers are out there, why hire someone?
It’s a fair question, especially now when answers feel more accessible than ever.
You absolutely could figure most things out yourself. Between search engines, tutorials, and AI tools, the information is there.
But what tends to get overlooked is the time it takes to sift through it all, the uncertainty of not knowing which advice to trust, and the frustration when things don’t quite work the way you expected.
What I bring isn’t just an answer — it’s the ability to get to the right answer quickly, and to apply it in a way that actually works for your setup.
Sometimes I know the solution straight away. Other times, I’m working it out — but in a much more focused, efficient way because I’ve done it so many times before.
Different people need different levels of support
Some clients are very happy to hand something over, get it sorted, and move on with their day.
Others want to understand exactly what’s happening, why it’s happening, and how to do it themselves next time.
Most sit somewhere in the middle.
There isn’t a right or wrong way to approach it. It just depends on how you like to work and how involved you want to be.
Winging it is part of the process
There’s no magic formula when it comes to tech.
Even with all the tools we have now, it still comes down to trying things, learning as you go, and gradually building confidence.
So if you’ve ever felt like you’re just winging it, you’re not doing it wrong — you’re doing exactly what everyone else is doing too.
And if you’d rather not?
I’m very happy to do the winging on your behalf!
(With the occasional “switch it off and on again” thrown in, of course.)
