In the last week I have stumbled upon so many great web sites full of content that I want to read. I have never been under this heavy of an information overload. I’ve spent so much time trying to figure out how to filter out the noise that I wasn’t prepared to mainline so much signal.
How do you deal with an overload of quality information? Any tips would be appreciated.
Photo overloaded: from the back by woowoowoo
Jim
Dec 12, 2010 — 7:30 pm
Just found your site after you mentioned Art’s new book (Art highlighted your mention), so now *you* are adding to my overload problem. I will await your suggested solution.
Oh, and great site(s). 🙂
chuck
Dec 12, 2010 — 7:31 pm
i hope you use google reader. best way to consolidate sites. as for back reading new (to me) sites, i don’t usually do that as i would also be on info overload. if i find a new site and they have a unique topic that catches my eye i will definitely read that. for instance, you had more about cold exposure than just about anyone out there. that was something unique i back read from ur site. otherwise, i have to accept that i don’t have time to read everything and realize i have and will continue to read what i can.
if i find something of particular interest, i will let you know ;). btw, if you want to do some real cold exposure come back to ohio to kick it up a notch. it’s been a cold december thus far.
MAS
Dec 12, 2010 — 8:33 pm
@Jim – Thanks! Art is my #1 mentor. His calmness and confidence is refreshing and inspiring.
@Chuck – Yes I am on Google Reader. It is probably where I spend most of my time online. Here is my shared items. It is a mix of nutrition, finance and funny stuff.
I’ll pass on the trip back to Ohio. 🙂
Mike
Dec 12, 2010 — 8:49 pm
tip on information overload:
See chapter 1, of The Black Swan, Nassim Taleb starting at “Education in a Taxicab”:
“It is not just knowledge but information that can be of dubious value…..I then completely gave up reading newspapers and watching television..which freed up enough time to read more than a hundred additional books per year…But this argument was not the entire reason for my dictum in this book to avoid the newspapers, as we will see further benefits in avoiding the toxicity of information…”
Stuart
Dec 12, 2010 — 8:52 pm
Merlin Mann wrote a love letter about Instapaper a while back:
http://www.kungfugrippe.com/post/243861520/marco
It’s a handy gadget for those times when you want to read every link in a long article but you are short on time or don’t want to manage a half dozen new windows.
MAS
Dec 13, 2010 — 9:41 am
@Mike – Thanks for reminding me of that Black Swan lesson. I’ve been pretty good about it, but I could be better.
@Stuart – I’ll finally give Instapaper a try. When I first looked at it, I thought it was another delicious