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Dear media: information overload was solved awhile ago
The New York Times reported this past weekend that some people are allowing email and other bitstreams to infiltrate their personal lives. (Shocking!) Called Who's the Boss, You or Your Gadget?, the piece quotes several high-tech executives admitting their inability to unplug and live life away from email and BlackBerry.
If you pay attention, you'll see this article published by a major media source every few months, decrying the effects of digital overload. Even as people enjoy the freedom to, say, check their email at the kids' soccer game, people have some sense that it's not the best way to spend family time. If only there was some way to liberate ourselves from the technology, they say, we'd be happier, healthier, and maybe even more productive in the long run.
But there's never a solution advanced in these articles. Instead, information overload is presented as inevitable, just part of the terrain of successful executives - even a proof of success. Some articles go further and argue that it's impossible to solve - that overload and distraction are inevitable companions to any technology user (see this post from late 2009 for an entertaining quote).
If anyone in these stories does try to solve their overload, it's a temporary stopgap measure, generally lasting a few minutes. (Says one exec in the "Who's the Boss" piece, "If you need some quiet time, it's up to you to not allow yourself to be bothered for an hour or half an hour.")
The most extreme stopgap solution to overload I've read about lasted multiple days - apparently such an extraordinary feat that it was a front-page article in the New York Times (and no, I'm not making this up).
I'm empathetic to the plight of the executives in these stories, but it's frustrating to see the same story written again and again - "woe is us, we're so overloaded, with no solution in sight."
The truth is that a solution DOES exist to information overload: let the bits go. I presented the solution in my 2007 book Bit Literacy (free for iPads and iPhones at the iBookstore and, for Kindles, at Amazon UK). The solution applies to email, todo lists, media diet, photos, files, etc. - and doesn't require high-tech skills or expensive technology purchases.
At its heart, bit literacy simply requires changing your stance. Declare yourself to be in charge of your technology, and act like it. Practice some basic discipline and live a fuller, healthier life - and be more productive.
Hi Mark,
thanks for a great summary of the recent public discussion on information overload. My only quibble is with your posted title - it's not "solved" until people actually follow the basic principles and proactively practice bit literacy.
I could almost go as far as comparing information overload (and "info junkies") to the more traditional vices like smoking, drinking and gambling. All of these can be managed, however discipline is key as you point out*. Being "hooked on information" is easier to justify and much more socially acceptable though, and perhaps that's exactly what makes it so hard to truly solve.
The solution itself, as outlined if your book, is brilliant. Good luck with the crusade :)
Cheers, Jussi
* Also reminds me of the tagline of David Maister's excellent "Strategy and the Fat Smoker": Doing what's obvious but not easy.
@Jussi - true enough - the solution is only *really* a solution when it's put into sustained, disciplined practice! Otherwise it's just a nice-to-imagine hypothetical.
In fact, that would be another good post: beware of "solutions" that promise instant or easy results.
P.S. The book is "Strategy and the Fat Smoker; Doing What's Obvious But Not Easy" - here's the Amazon link:
http://amzn.to/fcsW12
You're right Mark - stop beating a dead horse repeating the mantra of information overload. It is framed as if we are being taken over by information instead of realizing we can set boundaries for when and how much information we access and read. Like any other new concept, it takes awhile for the long tail to catch up to what we all know in our sleep. Give them time.
By the way, I'd love to get your book for my kindle but in U.S. and won't let me download from Amazon U.K. Can you put it on Amazon U.s.? Thanks much.
Great post and I could not agree more! In fact, I had a similar response: http://bit.ly/dLPcQ6. Also, information management is not the solution. Attention management is (http://bit.ly/dCbgt7). I'm adding your blog to my reader. Great stuff!