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This is a list for keeping track of items about information overload.
Updated on 2009-06-12
Created on 2008-05-11
Category: Cultures & Community
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The Danger of Information
Too much information.
For anyone connected to a digital network of any kind that’s either a fact of modern life or a hazard waiting in the wings.
However, a writer in the Op-Ed section of this morning’s Post believes that the “information avalanche” ena -
Citizendium Blog » How to keep Google from making us stupid
In the radio discussion, Carr maintained that there was basically nothing we could do about the ongoing and worsening dumbing-down of our civilization. I find his pessimism depressing and fatalistic. As I pointed out on Edge.org, if we cannot focus well
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The Critics Need a Reboot. The Internet Hasn't Led Us Into a New Dark Age.
When in doubt, blame the latest technology. Socrates thought the advent of writing would wreak havoc on the powers of the mind. Christian theologians denounced the printing press as the work of the devil. The invention of the telephone was supposed to mak
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CBC Radio | The Current | Whole Show Blow-by-Blow
Part 2: Information Overload
Trying to organize the information deluge can be a challenge. Fancy new software might help, but it does take some self control. Such is the life of a working professional in the technological age. So much information, so little time to make sense of it. We examined the growing problem of information overload, and how it's affecting our ability to relate to each other. -
The Productivity I/O Sweet Spot, Or Why Balance Is A Bad Thing | Matthew Cornell - Personal Productivity Workflow Consultant
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- I >> O (far more coming in that going out)
- I > O (a bit more coming in "")
- I ~= O (approximately equal)
- I < O (a little less coming in "")
- I << O (far fewer incoming than outgoing)
After a bit of thinking I came up with a little surprise. Consider your rate of inputs ("I") vs. rate of outputs ("O"). We have these possibilities:
- I >> O (far more coming in that going out)
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- Drowning and desperate. This is that "utterly out of control" feeling, the sense that you'll never, ever be able to catch up. This is the source of big backlogs of email and paper. Work is falling through the cracks, and you have a reputation of "Better follow up in person or it probably won't get done." Grievously unsustainable
- Sinking (maybe slowly, maybe fast). This is the sense of "I just can't quite keep up," and leads to an overall anxiety about work. Your inboxes are increasing, with occasional "binge" emptying happening. Unsustainable
- Steady state, but brittle. You're just able to keep up if it's "a good day," but the slightest lag in work means you start falling behind - a day or two, say. And vacation or a trip? You'd better block out a good chunk of time blocked out to pay your "vacation tax." Brittle (one of the 10 GTD "holes" I identified)
- Smooth sailing. You've got some amount of buffer built in to your life. You can afford a few days of letting things pile up, and emptying is not usually a problem. Sustainable
- Couch potato/proactive monster. You have plenty of buffer. You can take off a week or two, say, and catch up with no sweat. Coasting
- Drowning and desperate. This is that "utterly out of control" feeling, the sense that you'll never, ever be able to catch up. This is the source of big backlogs of email and paper. Work is falling through the cracks, and you have a reputation of "Better follow up in person or it probably won't get done." Grievously unsustainable
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