No bio set
TDak

Dealing with Information Overload

I've enjoyed the recent posts about work and prioritizing important activities but how do you deal with information overload that may take away from work? There's so much interesting, beneficial content on the internet. Are you efficient at processing information or is it more about being good at shutting out everything but the most essential content?

I've found using RSS helps, but I still feel like I spend way too much time consuming content. Most of it is beneficial which is why I feel so conflicted dealing with it and have yet to find a satisfactory solution. I was thinking maybe doing a month long "fast" in  regards to internet consumption to reset.

I'm interested if Tynan or anyone has a successful system for dealing with it?

No bio set
You
Autosaved...
Advanced options  
tynan.com/
Creator of SETT. Adventurer.
Tynan
  • Tynan
  • 2 years ago
  • 4 repliesOne like
  • Reply

I think the important thing is to consider whether or not you're actually likely to benefit from whatever information your receive. Part of that is the source of the information, but part of it is also your habits.

So for blogs-- ask yourself if the person you're reading is actually providing information that addresses issues that you have, and then ask yourself whether or not you're going to do what it takes to benefit from that information. For example... if you read my "every day" post and my "love work" post, but you aren't working harder or working every day, then something has to change-- either stop reading my blog, or make yourself take action based on it. Otherwise you're just wasting your time.

I follow only 2-3 blogs closely, and another 2-3 once a week or so. That's it. The ones I follow closely cause me very frequently change my attitudes and actions. The other few are either entertainment or infrequent change.

A lot of content seems beneficial, but really isn't. Most stuff on Reddit falls into that category. You also have to consider the costs-- if you read Reddit everyday, you will sometimes find useful stuff... but you will also spend hours getting there. Probably not worth the tradeoff.

No bio set
TDak
  • TDak
  • 2 years ago
  • 3 repliesNo likes
  • Reply

Thanks for the reply.

So you use potential for change of action or attitude as a gauge for what to read. That makes sense.

I tend to consume a lot of internet content around more academic learning, so stuff like history, science, finance, etc. so I think it's easier to justify to myself, but it really doesn't have an immediate impact on my life. It's easy to think I might use it in the future though. 

I guess it comes down to prioritizing and realizing that while learning is great if it doesn't align with greater goals it can be a hindrance.

Creator of SETT. Adventurer.
Tynan
  • Tynan
  • 2 years ago
  • 2 repliesNo likes
  • Reply

I think that sort of stuff is MUCH better learned through books. Spend 1-2 hours reading every day. The advantage of books is that they're much longer and give you more "hooks" to memory, so if you're not going to use the information soon, you won't forget it as easily. Blogs are only really good for immediate action sort of stuff... think about what you read two weeks ago on blogs. Do you remember any of it?

No bio set
TDak
  • TDak
  • 2 years ago
  • One replyNo likes
  • Reply

Yeah, not too much and the returns for time investment are usually not particularly good depending on the source.

One last question for you - how well do you keep up with the news since none of it is particularly actionable?  

Creator of SETT. Adventurer.
Tynan
  • Tynan
  • 2 years ago
  • No repliesNo likes
  • Reply

I ignore the news entirely for that very reason-- it's not actionable. If you want to learn about the world around you, I'd suggest turning to history rather than current events.

hide

Read Next

How To Write Your First Book in 48 Hours

As I've mentioned, I'm not an authority on making money in general, but I do make a livable income through my two books, Make Her Chase You and Life Nomadic. I won't claim to be an expert on writing books, but I definitely have enough experience that I can probably offer a good starting point for anyone interested in doing the same. In this article I'm going to focus on how to actually write the thing, as I've come up with a pretty cool system, and then in the next I'll talk about how to actually publish it and make money.

After leaving Smiley Media, the only real job I've ever had, a friend of mine asked me why I'd never written a book about pickup. I didn't have a good answer, so I went home and decided I'd write the thing. Forty eight hours later the rough draft was completed, and a month later I was selling copies of it. Point is-- writing a book is actually a lot easier than you might expect. If you take my advice, you could easily have most of the hard work done in the next couple days, week, or month. So here's the system:

Step One: Chaotic Outline

Why You Should Probably Buy Bitcoins

In 2009, probably within the first couple months of its existence, I downloaded the Bitcoin client and began mining bitcoins. Back then it was really easy-- you could get hundreds of Bitcoins per week for free, but they weren't worth anything. Not wanting to waste my time, I deleted the Bitcoin client, and any bitcoins I had mined went along with it.

Last March I thought about Bitcoins again and decided to check up on them. As I read about the progress that had taken place in the preceding years and learned more about the technical aspects of Bitcoin, I was blown away. This is going to change the world, I thought.

So I bought a few when they were around $30 a coin, a few more at $80, and then again at $110. I'm not a Bitcoin millionaire or anything awesome like that, but percentage-wise, it's the best return I've ever gotten on anything. In case you don't fanatically check the price like I do, it's at around $825 per coin as I write this.

I'm going to write the rest of this blog post to explain why I think it's important that you buy some Bitcoins, but take it all with a grain of salt. I do know a fair amount about Bitcoin, but I don't know much about investing or, more importantly, your financial situation.

No bio set
You
Autosaved...
Advanced options  
tynan.com/
Close
Rendering New Theme...