It is now clear to me that the information superhighway has gotten really busy, noisy, and crowded. In addition, the speed limits are all but entirely gone.
How in the world are we going to manage this endless flow of information? There are simply no tools to slow it down; management is somewhat helpful, but the feeling of being “behind” is constantly proving itself to be an itch I can’t scratch.
I’m drowning in a river of information that is real time, mercilessly unending, and apparently “important.” Information now travels faster around the planet than the speed of sound and I’m trying to beat it to the finish line.
It’s like drinking from a firehose.
Some of the challenges that we [I] face:
- The feeling of “missing” something all the time.
- Our inability to “watch” everything all the time.
- Collecting, sorting, managing all the information into understandable clusters and buckets.
- Management of these feeds of information takes time, effort, and good tools.
- Productivity is lost due to the management of these info feeds.
- Missing the “gold nuggets” that are out there.
- “Competing” with all the information out there that is not as important as the Message that we want to communicate.
What we [I] need:
- A better understanding of what’s “valuable” and “important.”
- A consistent strategy to combat the river of data.
- Networks for coverage and a more team-based approach to information gathering, filtering, and management.
- Strategic “blocks” that prevent me from using more time than necessary.
- Accountability.
- A renewed focus on our core Message and a communication strategy to disrupt.
Notice how I didn’t mention anything about my need for more tools or better tools. We’ve got plenty of those.
I think I need more than a DIY Productivity strategy or toolset or book; I think I need the Spirit to invade my blogging and my efforts online and renew me once again.
[Image from Johnny_Mitchell]
There's this great talk at ECHO Conference entitled "Using Technology without Technology Using You". Sounds rad.
Great thoughts to ponder John …
John, totally with you on this. In fact, I might add to it that I've begun unsubscribing to blogs that only want to focus on the negative in everything. We already have a flood of information to pour through, the last thing is to continue to throw trash on the brain.
Churchcrunch is remaining in my reader, BTW.
God bless.
I agree, John. I constantly feel like I'm drinking from the information fire hose. But whenever we run into our limitations as humans is an opportunity to reflect on God's lack of limitations.
* God never misses anything.
* God watches everything all the time.
* God doesn't need to collect, sort, manage information into understandable clusters and buckets. He understands everything.
* God's management of these feeds of information takes no time, no effort, and he needs no tools to do so.
* God always sees all the “gold nuggets” that are out there.
well said. well said.
Goodness yes. I really have to watch how many feeds I subscribe too…otherwise I just get overwhelmed! I wonder how people will react from Information overload or burnout in 5-10 years. Probably go outside and hike or something crazy.