Thursday, May 28, 2009

Input Overload

I haven't written a blog post in more than four months! Yes, just like everyone else in this day and age, I've been crazy busy. But I don't want to go on about that for three paragraphs. I've actually learned something over this hiatus, and I want to share that with you.

I'm a big proponent of reading and learning. As my craving for knowledge has increased over the last few years, I've realized that there's one thing I've been doing really poorly; managing my inputs. (By inputs, I really just mean sources of information, but I'm nerdy like that.) Think about the number of inputs one has nowadays: blogs, newspapers, books, articles, magazines, facebook, Twitter, text messages, voice mail, multiple email accounts, etc. For me, it's gotten to the point where these things have started to control my schedule. I realized this a while ago when I decided to give up reading newspapers, but that was only a tip of the iceberg. After taking a 10,000 ft. view of all this, I've come to this realization:

QUEUEING IS DANGEROUS

Now, I know I've talked a lot about books such as Getting Things Done, which are primarily based on queuing your work, but recently, my queues have started to erupt. Take a look at the number of unread items in my Reader:



Getting my inbox to empty everyday is also starting to take it's toll on me. And the number of unread books on my bookshelf just keeps increasing. Keeping up with Facebook hasn't gotten to me yet, but it's probably just a matter of time. I can't keep up!

Twitter is the latest social phenomenon, and I feel that its lack of queuing has been an important part of its success. It's very easy to keep up with Twitter, and that is something that everybody is yearning for nowadays.

So what's the solution to all this mess? Well, here are a few methods for managing/eliminating queues that I've come across through various sources:
  • Limit the amount of time you check email. You can even have set times during the day.
  • If you are reading something, and you're not enjoying it, put it away and move on to the next thing. Reading for personal development shouldn't be a chore.
  • Try to set up automated ways of shrinking queues. e.g. auto archiving your email after a short period of time (like two weeks)
  • Stop reading the newspaper :P
Sadly, I don't have much more than that. What are some things that you've done to eliminate or manage your input queues?

17 comments:

derek martin said...

If it's not your job to know it, it's ok to not know about it.
Limit browsing/rss to one session per day! AND if you get interrupted, too bad. Your session is over.
Limit tv to one show or movie a day, with none every other day. Read instead (in depth content, not fluff).
BUT most importantly, take time to do nothing. Sit quietly. Clear your mind. Doing this daily makes a huuuuge difference!

Zakir Hemraj said...

Great suggestions Derek! I hope all is well.

fnthawar said...

Delete/consolidate queues aggresively....
* I got rid of my PVR
* my voicemail message says "Don't leave me a message, email/txt me instead".. better yet, cancel voicemail

Remove queue sources
* I unsubscribe from blogs
* I unfollow people on Twitter
* don't use favourites in Twitter
* don't use Starred items in Google reader
* Unsubscribe from magazines

Use non-queing resources
* I use www.techmeme.com for news, it doesn't queue
* watch TV w/o PVR

Limit queues
* Google reader automatically only shows you the last 30 days of a feed
* Subscribe to aggregators, for example InfoQ is probably the best resource on Agile... don't subscribe to others

Timeboxing
* I like Derek's suggestion of only browsing once/twice per day. If you limit to 30 minutes each time, you have no choice but to only look at the high quality content

Good luck!

A said...

I have a problem of letting queues build up as well. I find the suggestions in your post and from your commenters valuable.

I don't have any other suggestions except to maybe more picky about what you choose to read/listen/watch etc. I know I definitely should be!

Zaid Rasid said...

I only worry about my work email Inbox and I make sure that it stays at empty. I tried keeping my personal email empty but it fills up way faster with junk. So I keep 99 emails in my personal email unread because it reminds me of the Jay-Z song 99 problems.

I don't limit checking email, or my reader as I am too curious and I like it when I get new emails. For the most part I just deal with the excess. And in Google Reader if I've had enough of it, I just mark all as read.

As to how to manage it all, I just don't worry about it and live how I've always lived.

Now why you don't read newspapers is rather interesting?

Derek said...

Zaid has an interesting point about newspapers. They ARE aggregators.

Is there a business model for a site that pretends to be a newspaper?

"All the most popular I.T. & World News items of the week, published at 5pm every Friday"

You could ignore the news all week, and just read that one site over the weekend (just like Beaver Cleaver's dad used to read his newspaper)

What I *really* need to do is stop bookmarking things. It creates so much mental clutter, and really, it's always on Google if I need it. I have a lingering pre-Google packrat mentality.

I also like Farhan's suggestions.

My PVR is gone, too. I download whatever I want to watch, and watch it at my convenience.

I read news.ycombinator.com - which dosn't have a search, so once it's off the front page, it's pretty much gone.

I didn't have voicemail for years, becuase I didn't answer it. When I got my iPhone I thought visual voicemail would change that, but it hasn't. I *should* change my message to "i'm not going to listen to this, please email or text me"

Anonymous said...

i very much enjoy your posting type, very interesting.
don't quit and keep penning mainly because it just simply that is worth to read it.
excited to find out more of your own well written articles, stunning day :)

Derek Martin said...

Anonymous - I couldn't have said it better myself :)

Anonymous said...

hello there, sweet page
so how to write blog posts that smash in your visitors:
http://tinyurl.com/yjwfbz7

Anonymous said...

I absolutely love this flat iron! I get compliments on how

healthy my hair looks, even from my hair dresser. It straightens and curls without damaging. I compared it to the Chi and the Chi didn't stand a chance, left my hair semi-frizzy and creased and the nano pro

left my hair shiny and smooth. Extra long plates cut my routine in half... I refer this product to everyone!!!

Anonymous said...

I am an African American woman with naturally kinky/coarse hair. I decided to stop using

relaxers over a year ago, furthermore straightening my hair became a difficult task. I could never seem to get the results I was looking for out of a flat iron without going to a professional hair salon and

spending $65.00 a visit. I previously used FHI ceramic flat irons which straightened my hair and then left it frizzy again within the next hour. A hairstylist friend of mines suggested the Babyliss Pro

Titanium irons. I purchased them from Amazon for $70 bucks and received them in about 5 days. "A miracle!!" I can't live without them now. My hair goes from frizzy/kinky to silky/straight/shiny in the blink

of an eye. The best part is that it "STAYS" silky and straight until the next time I need to wash and straighten. No gimmic here. I highly recommend them over chi and fhi.

Unknown said...

201510.31dongdong
Christian Louboutin Outlet Sale Cheap Online
uggs sale
ugg boots sale
Michael Kors Handbags Clearance Outlet
uggs clearance
michael kors handbags
ugg boots sale
michael kors outlet
Designer Louis Vuitton Bags Discount
coach outlet online
Michael Kors Outlet Online Deals Huge
michael kors outlet
ugg boots
michael kors outlet
coach outlet
celine bags
coach factory outlet
cheap ugg boots
coach factory outlet
canada goose
Michael Kors Designer Handbags Outlet Online
Abercrombie & Kent Luxury Travel
Louis Vuitton Outlet Free Shipping
Coach Outlet Discount Clearance Coach Handbags
nike air max 90
coach outlet
ugg outlet
coach outlet
Coach Outlet Handbags With Factory Price
Gucci Outlet Store Locations
michael kors bags
Montblanc Pen Refills Outlet
authentic louis vuitton handbags
Canada Goose Outlet,Canada Goose Outlet Online,Canada Goose Clearance
canada goose jackets

Unknown said...

201510.31dongdong
Christian Louboutin Outlet Sale Cheap Online
uggs sale
ugg boots sale
Michael Kors Handbags Clearance Outlet
uggs clearance
michael kors handbags
ugg boots sale
michael kors outlet
Designer Louis Vuitton Bags Discount
coach outlet online
Michael Kors Outlet Online Deals Huge
michael kors outlet
ugg boots
michael kors outlet
coach outlet
celine bags
coach factory outlet
cheap ugg boots
coach factory outlet
canada goose
Michael Kors Designer Handbags Outlet Online
Abercrombie & Kent Luxury Travel
Louis Vuitton Outlet Free Shipping
Coach Outlet Discount Clearance Coach Handbags
nike air max 90
coach outlet
ugg outlet
coach outlet
Coach Outlet Handbags With Factory Price
Gucci Outlet Store Locations
michael kors bags
Montblanc Pen Refills Outlet
authentic louis vuitton handbags
Canada Goose Outlet,Canada Goose Outlet Online,Canada Goose Clearance
canada goose jackets

xumeiqing said...

151221meiqing
uggs for women
coach factory outlet
louis vuitton outlet
nike air huarache
hollister kids
ugg outlet
instyler curling iron
michael kors
coach outlet online
true religion
oakley sunglasses wholesale
cheap oakley sunglasses
michael kors handbags
ugg australia
polo ralph lauren
celine
coach outlet
uggs clearance sale outlet
ray ban outlet
coach outlet online
nike huarache
fake oakleys
abercrombie
mulberry handbags
the north face
ugg boots on sale
michael kors outlet
ugg boots
ugg outlet
coach factory outlet

Unknown said...

Công ty thiet ke noi that oz chuyên trang tri noi that, thi cong noi that chuyên nghiệp. Được nhiều công ty, cá nhân tin tưởng. Năm 2015 là sự phát triển mạnh mẽ về thiet ke noi that chung cu, thiet ke noi that van phong, thiet ke noi that biet thu, thiet ke noi that can ho, thiet ke noi that nha ong, thiet ke noi that nha hang. Ngoài là một cong ty thiết kế nội thất, oz còn thiet ke phong nguthiet ke can ho, thiet ke nha hang, thiet ke van phong, thiet ke showroom. Góp phần tạo nên nhiều ngôi nha dep cho khách hàng.

Unknown said...

ninest123 16.02
coach purses, louboutin, converse pas cher, north face, replica handbags, longchamp, abercrombie and fitch, timberland, nike huaraches, true religion jeans, longchamp, vans pas cher, true religion outlet, sac burberry, polo ralph lauren, nike free pas cher, hogan outlet, air max, ray ban pas cher, michael kors, new balance pas cher, nike trainers, sac longchamp pas cher, michael kors uk, nike blazer, hollister, ray ban sunglasses, true religion outlet, nike tn, lululemon outlet online, nike free, true religion jeans, air max, michael kors pas cher, nike air max, mulberry, hollister, ralph lauren, nike roshe, nike air force, oakley pas cher, sac guess, coach outlet store online, air jordan, sac hermes, vanessa bruno, air max pas cher, michael kors outlet, polo lacoste, north face, nike roshe run pas cher

Unknown said...

links of london, karen millen, canada goose, moncler, louis vuitton, canada goose, ugg pas cher, moncler, ugg boots, sac lancel, sac louis vuitton, moncler, juicy couture outlet, juicy couture, canada goose, canada goose, moncler, swarovski crystal, ugg, canada goose uk, canada goose jackets, hollister, doke gabbana, pandora charms, louis vuitton, barbour, supra shoes, canada goose, pandora jewelry, ugg, swarovski, thomas sabo, wedding dresses, canada goose outlet, toms shoes, moncler outlet, converse shoes, pandora charms, rolex watches, pandora jewelry, moncler, louis vuitton uk, barbour, marc jacobs, montre homme, moncler, ugg, moncler, sac louis vuitton, coach outlet store online
ninest123 16.02