Over the past 8 weeks or so I have been heavily involved in my own personal and professional learning. I have been taking workshops, attending meetings, learning a new job and have become heavily involved in my first grad class. I recognize that others do more with less, but this is very much a 360 for me and my family so its been an adjustment. The work and the classes integrate together and it's all applicable but there has definitely been some information overload and just a little bit of anxiety. That is until my last assignment which was aptly titled: Information Overload.
The readings were interesting and informative, conversations with colleagues just as much so and I can really appreciate the ideas, advice and perspective that these different resources provided.
Since Kathryn Anda states that information doubles every 1.5 years I have realized that there is no way I can catch up. It's impossible, even if I do get the odd weekend to myself. All I can do is pick up where I am. I can't know everything because "there's more data than ever before." http://blog.yammer.com/blog/2011/05/information-overload-strategy.html
I realize that it is valuable to continue reading, learning and pushing myself but within established parameters. Using these may not decrease the amount of information I am taking in but decrease the anxiety, lessen the guilt and increase the compassion and kindness I need to show myself.
1. Develop a purpose and a time limit for being on the computer, on line and even on my IPhone. It's hard not to check my email every time I hear a ding, but I don't answer my phone every time it rings either. I feel guilty if I have left a text message for too long without responding but I guess if they need an immediate answer they'll phone. Ditto for the email either that, or the sender figures it out for themselves.
2. Do something with the mail.I receive a plethora of email and paper a day. Kathyrn Anda suggests that when you receive mail, move it! Read it, forward it, reply to it, or delete it but manage the paper! I find this hard to do since I am so new to this position that I feel its necessary to keep everything so that I can refer to it if needed. Not everything is on line, therefore it needs to be organized.
3. Use productivity tools to help work smarter not harder. I need to be more efficient so I have started using different tools to be better organized. I subscribe to Google Reader that tracks the blogs I follow (admittedly, I click All Read more times than I should), organize favorite websites on Diigo and keep track of random information on Evernote. Again, Kathryn Anda says that information overload leads to a lack of productivity and creativity. How can you get the job done well when you are so worried you don't know everything? Another big thing I am doing is not doing the same thing twice. For example: I have chosen to reflect on each grad assignment to hopefully make my final assignment easier and have been writing them out and saving them as word documents, however I am also being encouraged to blog so why not reflect on my assignments on my blog? There, two birds, one stone. Done.
4. Be kind to myself. I have now given myself permission to not know it all and not be the perfectionist I used to be. It is okay to turn off my phone, disconnect the laptop and become unavailable for awhile. I used to think I needed to be connected all the time, now I know that it is a balance. I need to be kind to myself and participate in the other things I enjoy; spend time with my children, my family and my friends or read a book or two. It is necessary to strive for balance so that I can maintain my sanity, my creativity and of course my productivity.
So, I have achieved my purpose (written a new blog post) and have reached my time limit (1/2 hour) and now I am off to read a book!
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