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motivation

Surfing the Information Tsunami

Like many of us, I have a bad case of FOMO: Fear of Missing Out. I like to be in the know. After all, if I am going to blog anything, I need to have information, right? If I am going to write about a business trend or positive philosophy, I need to be in the know, right?

cartoon of a woman tossing her smartphone
Copyright Kevin Spear

My wife kids me when I get alerts for Twitter accounts I follow. I get breaking news alerts for the latest doom and gloom news. Occasionally, I need to put my phone on “Do Not Disturb” in order to break my train of thought. Even then, it is too easy for that thought train to derail and spill my brain granules all across the landscape.

In the pre Internet years, we had information gatekeepers in the form of editors and television producers. They sorted through all the junk for the public. Now, anybody with a phone can be an information provider. In one alert, I see news about a homicide, SWAT standoff or traffic travesty. The next moment, I get an alert about twenty surly kittens that will make you laugh your socks off. Even if I was doing nothing at the time, that is quite a whiplash of discordant information!

I know! Just the fact that I am writing a blog contributes to this tsunami. My goal is to contribute positively and be an encouragement in a negative world. Still, Here is one more town crier attempting to make his voice heard above the crowded field.

So here is for myself and for others that are feeling the same information wave overtake them.

  • Take a breath and relax. While there is always something going on in the world, I don’t have to be aware of everything. If it is important, I’ll hear about it sooner or later.
  • I don’t have to be the first one in my circle to hear breaking news. Let someone else have FOMO while I am getting things done.
  • I will be discerning in my information consumption. If I am getting down because of a series of bad news, I need to either get away from the news or find some good, uplifting stories.

FOMO and bad news can affect my productivity. I choose to have more than a Breaking News! perspective.

Categories
motivation

Phone check…or not?

When I drew this cartoon, I did not have a smartphone. Ten years has made quite a difference when it has come to phone tech. But are we better for it?

This article on the morning habit of checking your phone first thing in the morning was written before all the coronavirus hit. I’m sure some of the warnings would be even more true today. It’s not a good idea for me to check my phone in the morning. All the stress and anxiety that comes through the phone does not put you me a good mindset to begin the day.

We face a constant battle each day to either control the content in our lives or let it control us. We are not facing a scarcity of information. On the contrary, we face a flood of information each day. We have to consider whether the information we receive is fact or opinion, accurate or made-up. And even if it is factual and accurate, we need to consider whether this is helping us or not. Does it put us in the right frame of mind? Does it help us start the day on a good, right footing, or just put us in despair?

It is tempting to just grab the phone and let the tsunami of information flood us. But remember, we have the control. We can choose how much and what information we consume. Otherwise, we may need a sign that says, “I have a smartphone. Please help me!”

Cartoon of a business man and homeless man
Categories
cartoon

Too much information?

cartoon of a woman tossing her smartphone
Copyright Kevin Spear

Cartoon of a frustrated woman tossing her smartphone. She says, “Stop giving me so much information!”

One morning, while I was watching Captain Kangaroo, a television ad came on the old picture tube. This was in the 1970’s, mind you. It said, “More information is being gathered each week than in all the previous years before 1970. It was complaining about how we were drowning in information.

I heard a stat the other day from Matt McKee. He said thanks to social media, more content is being created every hour than in all the content created between the dawn of time and 1950.

That isn’t to say it’s all good content. I have my fill of cute puppy and crazy kitten videos. Maybe it is too much information. I keep wanting to yell, “TMI! TMI!” at my smartphone, don’t you?

 

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