Sunday, February 14, 2010

Here a Ning, There a Wiki...Information Overload!

(To the tune of Old Macdonald)
Here a Ning, there a wiki, everywhere a blog, blog, blog OMG too much info! EIEIO.

So I've discovered the wonderful world of the edublogosphere. So many ideas, so many conversations. So many apps. So exciting. Yet so overwhelming. Is it just me that feels compelled to sort and organize every bit of information that I encounter?

Here's a great quote I found "That in spacious knowledge there is much contristation, and that he that increaseth knowledge increaseth anxiety." Bacon

It all starts with my Google Reader account that I visit more often than I should. For me this has become a form of relaxation and entertainment. At the same time I want to keep track of every good quote, every link to a useful web tool, every new book mentioned I might read someday. So yes, I have lists (I use Todoist for that), and I have a notebook (I just switched from Google Notebook to Zoho Notebook), and I bookmark (Google bookmarks and just created a Diigo account).

However, I'm coming to the conclusion that I don't need to collect EVERYTHING. So I've tried to come up with a few simple rules to help manage my new addiction.

Jodie's Rules for Managing Information Overload:

Set PRIORITIES: One of those practices that are so important, yet so often overlooked. Take time to sort out what is important in your life, those big overall values and goals that should direct how you choose to spend your time. Post those priorities somewhere where you will revisit them often. ...remember BABY STEPS.

Set a TIME LIMIT: It is so easy to lose track of time and space when using the computer. Use an actual timer (I bet there's an app for that) and set a predetermined amount of time that is to be spent.

Set a PURPOSE: Pretty shiny things are at every turn on the Internet, so unless your purpose is to entertain yourself by surfing aimlessly (and that's okay sometimes), literally write down on a sticky note in big words your task or a focus word to remind you of what you are trying to accomplish (hmmm, I wonder if there is an app for that?)Hopefully your eye will wander to it when you find yourself signing up for another Ning and joining an online podcast when you are supposed to be paying your bills.

Set up a SYSTEM: For the information that you come across that you really do want to remember, put it somewhere where you can find it again. Ironically I've found the same technology that is causing me stress, is also very useful to alleviate it, if I use it properly. So I'll continue to use online tools like Diigo and Zoho Notebook and Todoist...just with a timer. :) I've found David Allen's book and well known "system", GTD, very helpful in creating a feeling of control in my life. One of GTD's main ideas is that to keep the mind free to be creative and calm there needs to be a safe place to collect everything and got it off your mind.

Is there anything I should add or does anyone have some general tips and/or tools for managing information overload?

...and should I admit how much time I spent writing this post? ;)

15 comments:

  1. Loved your post.. I can definitely identify :)
    I have a very techy friend who subscribes to hundreds (thousands?) of feeds and I asked him how he saves and organizes things. He said he doesn't! He knows there will be plenty more interesting things to read tomorrow.

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  2. Oh my, I'm so glad that I am not the only one who suffers from information overload! I have come to love SimplyBox to organize all of the websites I encounter. I am very visual and will not remember what a site was unless I can see a visual of it. You can also add notes and tags and share boxes. Easy...but I will say that I am loving the timer idea. I need to do that for sure. And yes, there is an app for that :)

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  3. What a great thing to keep in mind, there will be plenty more interesting things to read tomorrow. How freeing!

    Kelly,
    I subscribed to your Diigo group account you have set up. I noticed that one can import Google Notebook and Google Bookmarks so I'm going to play with that. It would be nice to have those two functions in one place.

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  4. Hi Jodie,
    I just came across this post that might be helpful. In it Darren Kuropatwa has a video by Howard Rheingold on filtering all the good stuff that is out there so that you are reading 'the best'.

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  5. Thanks for this post. My time online varies. If I am in the midst of teaching a tech ed course, I feel I need to be online more often finding resources for my students. I use tools like Diigo to keep me organized. I have been using Diigo so long that I hardly every annotate what I bookmark, but make excellent use of tags. Diigo has the Read Later function, which I use occasionally. Although I use other tools to keep me organized--Pinterest, ScoopIt, and so forth, in the end Diigo is the one that I find most useful. It is fast and easy, and a great time saver. I subscribe to a few Diigo groups and have set the frequency of receiving emails from these groups to weekly, which also helps to keep me organized. I am a big fan of using Google Drive, which is another wonderful organizational tool. I have lots of things at my fingertips--such as easy access to sites I build with Google Sites, access to the varied blogs I have created with Blogger, and of course quick access to Google Drive Docs, Spreadsheets, and other Google type files saved in Google Drive. I also use Google Reader, and check it about every 3 days when teaching and less often during breaks when I am not teaching. Although I have a Word Press blog, now that I use Google Drive and Google email to keep me organized, Blogger works better for me--having everything I need daily all in one place. I check Google+ about once every two days, and now with the ETMOOC, a bit more often. It's interesting to see how others keep organized. Students in my classes are always looking for tips to keep them organized and focused--it's so easy to stray when you're online, such as checking the #etmooc and now finding your post from one of the tweets. However, if we work to select what is of interest to us before clicking, we can stay focused. The topic of staying organized interested me, so I clicked on your tweet link to see if I could find tips for my students. I will be introducing Diigo in class this week, and I know some will find it easy to use, and others will struggle and drop it. Some will say they prefer Pinterest, but Pinterest is not nearly as helpful for organization as Diigo, although Pinterest might have a stronger visual appeal. In fact, use of Pinterest can also lead to wasting a lot of time online if one is not disciplined. Well, I hope to check back here to see what other contribute. On Twitter, I am @judyarzt Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thanks for the comment Judy. I'm not sure why but this post (written in 2010) ended up in the hub and away she went! It was good for me to reread and see if I am following my advice...and for the most part I have! I use Diigo a lot too (would like to use it more with students) and was going between creating lists and tags. Now I only create a list for active projects and just tag everything else well like you said. When I am done a project I delete the lists but not what is inside it. I have created a group diigo for my committee on PLNs but was hoping there would be more collaboration with comments on it. I have recently discovered Pinterest but agree without tags it is not as powerful...and too easy to get distracted looking at pretty things!

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  6. Thanks, the quote from Bacon really hits me where I'm at. Organizating/storing/sorting--important skills for this information age. We all have to be librarians of sorts.

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  7. my etmooc blog is here: http://shuananiessen.blogspot.ca/
    For some reason it didn't link to my name on the last comment

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  8. Hey, Jodie. One thing I saw yesterday in #etmooc was a workflow graphic and it tied in with your comment of setting up a system. I've been working a it, but I think I need to physically sketch it out (maybe later do a digital mindmap), so that I'm really clear on it and can formalize it. I started using the GTD system in Evernote...went away from it, redesigned it, and now I'm using it again. With Evernote, I forward emails from my Google Mail accounts I want to respond to & archive so my Inbox is clutter free (that's been a challenge this week LOL), forward Tweets I want to read later or put in Reference, and add other to do's into Evernote GTD. I use Diigo pretty exclusively for bookmarks and when I favorite things in Twitter, it forwards to my Diigo account. I use iGoogle and Google Reader for my feeds and I'm experimenting with a few other things. Like Judy, I use Google Drive and have started scanning things to it to get rid of paper.

    I think I'll print this quote from your blog and put it up in my work area: "One of GTD's main ideas is that to keep the mind free to be creative and calm there needs to be a safe place to collect everything and got it off your mind." I also need a key word or verse to have posted and also an item that is a prompt for calming me and helping me stay grounded.

    Your post and others I've read, and some of my own experience this week has put formalizing this process as a priority. Thanks, and I hope you find that rhythm, as well. Let's continue on together :)

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    1. Oh, I forgot. A cool tool with Evernote is using Web Clipper to send websites, selected portions on webpages, pdfs, & hyperlinks. I especially like this if I'm working on a project or want read something later.

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    2. Hi Glenn,
      Nice to connect with another teacher who is a GTD user. I find it good to reread parts of the book every so often to get back on track. I use Todoist a lot as my main hub for everything else. I'm going to have to have another look at Evernote, I have used Onenote on my tablet a little my I like things in the cloud. Web clipper does sound useful too, thanks for the tip!

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  9. I created this curation workflow based on the GTD method. It looks very pretty and I enjoyed making it, but it has yet to be tested in practice! Before this I tried Evernote, however I couldn't really get my head round it., so I've transferred it all to Diigo which will be a new tool for me, as will Pocket and Buffer. I also need to tidy up my Scoop.it account. I'm going to give this system a shot, not least because I spent hours creating the mindmap! Ps. Scoop.it now has options to post there, and to Twitter, LinkedIn & Facebook at the same time. I like that. Google+ is the only odd man out.

    http://www.debseed.wordpreess.com/2013/01/20/Revision-99

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  10. Sorry, wrong link. http://www.debseed.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/revision-99/. (If this link doesn't work I'll try again later on my PC)

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    1. Wow that is a work of art ;). I always like to see how others deal with seeking and sharing. You have hit the nail on the head though that making sense of all of this is the point (or rather the next step in all this) It is becoming quite apparent to me that if curating or synthesizing the firehouse that is the Internet is a necessary yet not immediately easy process then this even more crucial to teach to our students.

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  11. I've copied and pasted this comment onto your post.

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