Too much Information: We’re all drowning in it
Humans are geared to gather information. It was a really good idea to know what carnivores were in the area when we lived in caves, so we didn’t get eaten. And, sure, there’s plenty to learn and to watch out for as we go through our modern day. The problem is that the evolutionary impulse to learn from our environment has met an unmanageable river of information constantly bearing down on us. With RSS feeds, blogs, 24/7 news outlets, Facebook, Twitter, (insert your favorite information stream here)… We’ve become like the goats that get into the grain bin and eat themselves to death. Our brains don’t have an automatic “off” switch that says “enough information: Stop!” So, even though we may feel overwhelmed, that doesn’t keep us from clicking on the next link for even more information.
To make this point even clearer, within the lifetime of anyone able to read this sentence, the amount of information available on any given topic has exploded beyond the ability of any one person to absorb or retain it! For IT pros, this is even more pressing because of the need to stay ahead of the curve in our careers. The fear of falling behind and not knowing as much as the next guy is exacerbated by the pace of change in technology. Sure, we no longer have to worry about the sabre tooth tiger pouncing on us, but we do need to keep our job skills fresh in order to stay employed. And it is endless. In fact, if you somehow manage to master every single thing about some aspect of IT, if you take a nap, it will have changed by the time you get up!
What to do? How do we keep our sanity amid the deluge?
There are tips and tricks for managing information flow, but that’s for a future post. Today, let’s take a moment to consciously recognize that our brains will not take a break on their own. Just know that it is a trick of biology to think you need to know everything. The reality is that it is impossible for you to do so.
For ten minutes a day, release yourself from this burden of gathering information.
Take a deep breath.
Give yourself (and your brain) a break.
