There are over 169 million blogs, and over 171,000 of them were started in the last 24 hours!*
Cellular network data traffic is expected to be 40 times greater over the next five years.**
In 2007, the average person produced six newspapers worth of information per day… that’s 200 times more information per day than 24 years before that!***
No wonder we can’t keep up!
I thought of this blog post a while ago when I was talking with a colleague about feeling like I just could not get caught up with all my emails… and she said “Oh, I’ve just given up. I know I can’t keep up, so why get worked up about it.” We both laughed, feeling much better knowing that we were both having the same challenge… and feeling like we were both failing at it, even though we are organized, hard-working and efficient workers!
Do you ever feel like you just can’t keep up with all the information coming at you? Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the number of emails in your IN Box? Do you often feel as though you might be missing some important information just because there is too much to pay attention to? I know I do!
Your final 3 Things challenge is to decide and commit to 3 Things you can do EACH DAY to help you manage your “information overload.”
To help get you started, here are 3 areas you can work with:
- Set Priorities: what most deserves your attention on any given day at any given moment? Get clear on that and stick to it!
- Set Time Limits: how long will you give yourself each day for emailing, Facebook, Twitter, phone calls, etc? Get clear on that and stick to it!
- Set Expectations: let your clients, friends, and family know what to expect. Will they get emails from you on weekends? If they need to reach you quickly, do they know how and where they can best get your attention? Get clear on that, let them know what to expect, and stick to it!
Notice that for each of these areas I say “get clear” and “stick to it” — clarity and discipline are such important parts of time management!
One final point I want to make is that we do have a choice as to what gets our attention. It might take more effort to filter out the growing amount of information we do not want to pay attention to, but we still get to choose what we want to focus on! Again, Big Fish Principle #1 is a good reminder here to ”Give energy to that which you want to grow.”
What 3 Things will you start (or continue) doing this week to help you manage all the information in your world?? I would love to hear from you! Please share in a comment below.
P.S. I love Seth Godin’s blog post about this topic, and I think you might too: read it here: The Filter Hierarchy. He asks important questions to help us prioritize where we put our attention!
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* source: BlogPulse – Nielsen
** source: Coda Research Consultancy 2010
*** source: Dr. Martin Hilbert, Univ of CA
ok, my favorite is that WE GET TO CHOOSE what we pay attention to! It’s so easy to think we have to pay attention to everything (for me, at least), and, as one of my friends says, it’s “crazy-makin’ “!
I’m going to spend today noticing what I am paying attention to… and deciding if it DESERVES my attention.
Great advice, Lorin! I do pretty well with #1 and #2, but I fall short sometimes on #3 – setting expectations. Any suggestions for how to communicate to clients, friends and family when you make a radical change – like not reading your emails more than once a day or not returning emails/calls unless they are urgent – or (and this is BOLD!) having an assistant return some calls or emails for you?!
Very timely! This is especially difficult if you have a “pleaser” personality. I love email and text, but don’t love voicemail, so I changed my voicemail message to tell callers that they will receive the fastest response if they email me first! Initially I felt strange doing this, but I have to admit that I LOVE returning calls after I have connected via email and established a time that works for both of us, not just their theirs. As usual, we need to remember to ASK for what we want and need! Thanks for the post… jgw
@Starla, your point is important and it is inspiring another blog! Stay tuned for me! It is amazing when we choose to focus on something what we notice!!
@Teresa you know, I have been working on this myself!
For me, I am working how to ask so that I get what I want…it is all in the ask! 
Communication is key and I am not always the best at it! It is a work in progress!! I would suggest noticing how you are ASKING….. and see what you notice….
@Julie I love that you put it out there so that the world knows the best way to communicate with you! Your point is important – it is all in the ASK!
(Mine is email!