Do you sometimes feel swamped with too much information?
I do.
The more I look for information (especially online), the more information I find. If I am not careful, I can get completely swamped by it and drown a slow, uncreative death of information overload. Sometimes it leaves my head spinning. I often hear people saying "I get so many newsletters and so much information, I just don't know what to do with it all". Well yes - if you subscribe to a lot of newsletters, you are going to receive a lot of information!
I learnt very quickly that I don't read most of the newsletters I get. So I unsubscribed from them all. I now only subscribe to one newsletter - the Harvard Business Review. It's not that I don't support the wonderful work that so many people are doing in the world - but that I'd rather choose when and how I find out what they are up to.
In an era of information overload, I try not to let filter failure be my downfall. I usually give myself time limits on reading online information, and try to limit it to only the specific information I need. I find that by consuming a lot of information, I begin to feel bogged down. It is mainly through creativity and contribution that my spirit feels light and free. There is a balance between consumption and creation, and I hope to maintain this balance by contributing something of value, whilst also supporting other's creativity by utilising their information.
Interesting post. I'm finding much the same so have stopped reading newspapers, magazines and watching most tv except when I just need to chill out, and have slowed my former voracious book consumption. All this so I may focus on creativity and contribution, together with judicious socialising to help maintain a healthy emotional balance. Interesting that you have adapted a similar strategy Julia.
ReplyDeleteI find that I need to diarise most activities including time slots to focus on creativity etc. Not surprisngly however the most rewarding activities are those where I contribute.
Great comments Garry. I also find that (like you mentioned) slowing down my 'voracious book consumption' as you put it so well leads to a focus on quality reading rather than quantity. Also see Leo Babauta for some inspirational tips on simplifying life and increasing the quality of life: http://zenhabits.net/.
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