Three Ways to Mitigate the Attention Crash, Yet Still Feel Informed

The following is also my column in next week's AdAge.

One of the most important skills executives need today is the know-how to manage and harness their personal information flow.

The Attention Crash is a crisis in global business that is getting worse every day. By 2009, the Radicati Group predicts that we’ll spend 41% of our time managing email. Now add to that the IMs, documents, Facebook pokes, RSS feeds, Twitter tweets and text messages coming at us and we’re officially way oversubscribed.

Unfortunately, the problem will not abate. Human attention is finite. It doesn’t scale. Worse, the pace of change today is so rapid there’s a huge need to stay digitally savvy.

The key is in wrangling your information flow. Here are three of my best tips.

Inbox Zero (www.inboxzero.com) - Blogger Merlin Mann has created a simple way to effectively manage email. His approach involves setting aside blocks of time for “email dashes,” quickly triaging messages and automating some of the processes with search folders – a powerful Outlook feature that most never use. Be sure to watch the video on Merlin’s site.

Invest in Search – When in doubt, let search tools - either on your desktop or online - do the work for you. The time you invest to set up these systems can pay huge dividends.

For example, I subscribe to around 500 RSS feeds in Google Reader. The great thing about my reader is that it’s searchable and acts as a personal database. So recently when my colleague asked me for March Madness online video statistics, was able to pull them up in seconds by searching my archive.

Make Unusable Time Usable – I read a ton. However, I have mastered how to stuff it into pockets of time that are normally “unusable.”

I get through about one business book a week by listening to them when I commute, travel and run errands. Most of the key books are available from Audible.com or iTunes. I am currently "reading" Groundswell by Josh Bernoff and Charlene Li.

In addition, I use Instapaper.com to bookmark articles I want to read. I can access this site from any computer or mobile device. I also keep a reading folder in my email nerve center that syncs up with my different devices. It’s even available when I am offline.

These are just a few of the best tips. For more “lifehacks”, check out my bookmarks.

Comments

[Bob Berkman]

All sounds reasonable, but why do I still feel that all of these strategies are just the latest ways to scramble and try desperately to adapt to a faster moving hamster wheel? I'm thinking that it's better to consider more psychological, even (dare I say) spiritual solutions, something along the lines of maintaining awareness and presence as described by Eckhart Tolle (and thousands of years of Buddhist teachings) in his Power or Now book?

In other words, I don't believe more technology or tools has ever really solved the problem of too much technology and information. This has ultimately to be an inner directed solution based on taking charge of our attitude, perspective, cognition, etc.

[Rod]

Instapaper's a good tip, thanks! Now if only I could get my browser to bookmark stuff I want to read on delicious AND instapaper at the same time.

[Simone]

Hi Steve, one qustion on instapaper (that I'm currently using). I like it mostly for the elegant design, but every time I check in I wonder if it wouldn't be easier to tag stuff as "to-read" on GReader and keep it all in one platform.What do you think?

[free computer tips and tricks]

internet damage is flood of informations. be carefull about that.

[computer tips and tricks]

I just trying. http://free-zing.blogspot.com/

[Brandon Carlos]

Indeed, from any business owners standpoint, 40% of time wasted on sorting emails is shocking. What's more shocking, though, is that the rising percentage means that our modes of communication are migrating at an exponential rate. As a PR professional, I am particularly bothered by this.I liked your book on tape suggestion. The book on tape has an unjustified stigma attached to it.

[Joshua]

It's really good tip.

[Florian]

I second your mention of instapaper and Google Reader, good tools to keep the flow without losing interesting content (I blogged on a very similar notion here: http://is.gd/btE) Attention crash - can I steal this wording? It really is a head-on description.

[Erik Starck]

Excellent post! I think you might be interested in our service: http://www.reachcards.com

We're essentially building a relevance filter based on your semantic presence and social context. The goal is to make you always reachable but never disturbed.

Our beta isn't quite ready yet but you can sign up at our homepage.

[TheRssFreeMan]

The question is, is it really important to subscribe to 500 RSS-Feeds?