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Essential Skills for Modern Living: More Google, Less Knitting - But You Still Need to Know Where th
Put down those knitting needles. Stop darning. Reading a paper map? Forget about it.
Those are just three of the skills you no longer need to survive or thrive in the twenty-first century.
That’s according to the Daily Mail in Great Britain, which conducted a poll to determine what are—and are not—the essential skills for living. Turns out typing, Googling, and being able to navigate every manner of online services are pretty much all you’ll need.
Even though I write about workplace issues, I found this article interesting. These are the skills for living successfully and productively right now, and they apply in many ways to the workplace as well. I’m not sure I agree with all of them, but it’s an interesting exercise to look through them. Are you up-to-date?
The top 20 essential skills to know:
- Googling
- Operating a mobile device
- Connecting to the Wi-Fi
- Online banking
- Learning to cook
- Being able to turn off the water at the mains
- Knowing what goes in which recycling bin
- Knowing about privacy settings online
- Using a calculator
- Using a self-service checkout
- Searching and applying for jobs online
- Using Google maps
- Updating/installing computer programs
- Being able to use satellite navigation
- Touch typing
- Reheating food in the microwave
- Online airport check-in
- Uploading photos
- Communicating via Facebook
- Changing settings on the thermostat
And the 20 skills deemed no longer essential:
- Darning
- Knitting
- Polishing brass and silverware
- Baking fresh bread
- Putting up a tent
- Writing postcards
- Sewing
- Knowing the phone numbers of friends
- Servicing the car yourself
- Understanding pounds and ounces
- Dinner party etiquette
- Writing letters
- Speaking a foreign language
- Knowing capital cities
- Understanding feet and inches
- Putting up a shelf
- Learning car journeys in advance
- Being able to change a tire
- Neat handwriting
- Knowing how to spell long words.
Of the top 20 essential skills, three are decidedly low-tech and old-fashioned: #5, learning how to cook; #6 being able to turn off the water at the mains; and #7 knowing what goes in which recycling bin. There is something comforting that in the digital age, you still need to know how to shut off your water and make dinner (and no, I don’t think reheating in the microwave, #16, counts).
I was surprised to see navigating your own thermostat as a new essential skill, until it occurred to me that gone are the old-fashioned, super simple dial thermostats, where with the simple turn of your wrist or flip of a little switch you could adjust the temperature. If your thermostat is like mine, you need a PhD to operate it. In fact, I must admit I have no idea how to work it.
On balance, I think the essential skills are spot on. Typing is more important than ever; being able to do things online instead of in person or making a special trip is smart (banking, checking in at the airport, paying bills, etc.); using the Internet to network and find work is essential; etc.
But some of skills the Daily Mail deemed non-essential still seem absolutely critical to me, especially in the world of work. For example, dinner table etiquette. The ability to converse intelligently, politely, and congenially with others—whether you are around a dinner table, conference table, or at an event—is absolutely essential. Not everything is digital; we still have to get along in person, and etiquette should always be an essential skill.
Writing, too, is an essential skill, and that goes for actually putting pen to paper as well as electronic missives. Whether it’s a postcard, a letter, or a short note, the ability to write a good note is essential. If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of well-crafted handwritten thank-you note, you know what I’m talking about. And until there is no more ink or paper on the planet, I expect every smart working person to send a handwritten note whenever appropriate.
And come on. If you drive your own car you MUST know how to change your own tire!
But, all in all, the list is pretty accurate, and it speaks volumes about the way we live today. Our lives are online. We stream and synch and digitize and download. And I am all for doing as much online as possible and availing yourself of as much technology as you can. But call me old-fashioned; I still think you should be able to write a decent thank-you note and change your own tire.
Here’s a link to the article: