This post is off the cuff, provides zero grammatical correction and in response to a vivid story like experience post about information overload from my friend J.D at Wage Slave Rebel.
…be a master of selective ignorance and limited information to actually accomplish your goals. here’s how.
i define my goal (a single goal) for a designated time usually at night (one hour, two hours), write a blog post, read 10 articles, read 200 pages, clean out my design work que, empty out e-mail…etc. i write it on a piece of paper in big letters. i do this when i get home from work and sit down at my desk to accomplish something for the night (usually IT Arsenal work, or lifestyle design reading or contributing, or most recently information product oriented).
i think through or jot down the systems i must have open to do that goal, not in detail, just a run through in my head and a scribble on my paper. i hang (pin) this goal to the wall (tack board) near my line of site.
here’s the crazy part. i take off my electronic information whore armor. the equipment that in a “double edge sword” kind of way keeps me unfocused and distracted from progress. zombified. i turn everything i don’t need off. i set a time limit for this goal. i turn my iPhone off (gasp), i close down AIM, gmail, tweetdeck. i close my door, or leave my familiar desk sometimes for a library or coffee house. i do what i need to find my zone…put on some hypnotic melody (dynamic symmetry pandora station), light a candle, drink some soda. i freaking love diet soda. i then do what needs doing. even if just for an hour or two.
this process of finding your zone is talked about and recommended by all who act instead of procrastinate (ramit sethi, tim ferris, leo babauta just wrote a post on it). it might have a scientific name, it might not.
the act of turning back on my phone is like putting back on my weird electronic information armor. it’s familiar and safe but heavy and burdensome at times….incredibly useful others.
make sure you find time to take off your digital armor from time to time. thanks J.D for your article.
do you “unplug” or limit information in a specific useful way?