Close that (news) tap!

The day I stopped checking newspaper (the paper based on online) for news but logged in to the facebook, I realized that the world has changed - at least for me. I don't know if I have changed or the world around me has changed  - its a bit of both - but it is an indication of what to expect, maybe, a decade from now.

About couple of years ago I used to read 3 newspapers every day, had about half dozen magazine subscriptions, 3 active email accounts, over 100 RSS feeds, over 75 bookmarked websites that I regularly check and it was stressing me out a lot. The news and information kept coming relentlessly and I was trying to dump them into my mind - wondering where I'll sort them, store them and use them. It was futile effort. I was never going to manage the deluge. Every day there's even more coming.

Then I tried something radically different (inspired by the Four Hour Work Week book).

I stopped all magazine subscriptions. I stopped all news papers (I still get Times but I only check the gossip section these days). I deleted all my RSS feeds, ditched 2 emails and consolidated to 1 email account. I notified my friends about my switch to gmail. Some of them kept sending emails to the old address and I decided its not worth dealing with them ;-). And I deleted all bookmarks.

Its been 2 years since I have been practicing this. I haven't missed the world and the world hasn't missed me. That's a relief. There's a lot less pressure on me to keep up. I still get to know the going ons. The best part is that I have been in control instead of the news controlling me.

So, how did I manage the information detox?. I realized that we live in a world diametrically opposite to our parents. During their time information was scarce and attention plenty. Today information is plenty but attention is scare. So, in those times you have to manage information access, but today you have to manage your attention. By letting anything and everything get scanned by eyeballs, I lost the control of attention.

Withdrawing from the information flow helped me actually see what I really need vs. what's getting thrown at me. And then I discovered the beauty of social networking (aka facebook).

My world interest comprises of two things: general news and news about my friends. Facebook gives me both. I have three types of friends on FB. 1) those who are active socially (they post photos, moods, what's happening with their lives), 2) those who share news & cool stuff and 3) fan pages of groups of my interest. So, I can now get news as well as keep in touch with friends. I control who I am friends with. Their interests match mine - so they curate what I get to see. If there is some important news, I get to hear from at least few of them. If there is a cool video, it gets posted. People share blog. Groups of my interest keep me updated about the happenings.

I can now open this information flow tap as much as I want or shut it to suit my bandwidth and interest.

Today I have discovered new friends and new things about old friends - and I know what's going on with them. The social aspect of FB is truly the power of future.

I haven't missed a thing that matters. Yes, this strategy won't get me past the 2nd round on GK quiz, but I was never good at it anyway ;-)