Fixing a small issue may be the first step to coming up with a great idea

We often ignore little issues. They hold us back and waste our time. If we start doing something and we encounter a small problem we can live with, we ignore it.

However, that same problem may become annoying as it appears more frequently. So it’s better to invest some time in fixing it. And who knows? You may find an unexpected benefit from it.

That was my case last week. My screen had been presenting a defect for a few months. Nothing critical, and I could still work. But on my worst days, it drove me crazy.

I decided to dedicate a few hours to fixing it, and this is what happened:

My small issue

My desktop setup has a notebook in the vertical position and an external monitor. I never felt comfortable with 2 screens, so I prefer it that way.

Some time ago, after restarting my notebook, the following message appeared:

Long story short, when I tried to use only the external display, my PC automatically set a resolution unsupported by my monitor. So, I kept using the “Extend displays” option, even when my notebook was closed.

I don’t like it because of 2 reasons:

1. Unnecessary consumption having the notebook’s screen turned on all the time.
2. Some applications and popups appeared on the notebook’s screen (that was annoying).

After a few months of shutting my eyes to it, I took it personally.

Solution

The solution was simple. It’s still a workaround, but I can use only my external display with no issues:

• Defining a shortcut to set the proper resolution.

So, while the error is on my screen, I press my shortcut key combination, and the resolution changes.

This post shows how to create that shortcut (requires an external portable exe file).

Bigger application

Solving an issue that was there for a while feels great. But why should we stop there? The possibility of creating a shortcut for changing my screen resolution gave me an idea:

My colleague had just bought a bigger monitor with a higher resolution. Whenever he shares his screen, he needs to go to the settings and lower the resolution in the middle of the meeting. And when he is done, he needs to revert the change.

This solution would be great for him so he can switch between the 2 resolutions using 2 different hotkeys (one for presenting mode and one for his regular use).

Disregarding this specific case, I learned that one issue can lead us to one idea that will solve multiple problems. And that’s how we grow our skills, performance, and Business.

Takeaway

You can fix an insignificant resolution issue using a keyboard shortcut.

But you can also improve your performance on a presentation using the same shortcut.

Any minor issue can lead you to a new idea, which you can use to solve multiple problems and grow your skills and Business.