Originally posted June 26, 2010
Too much information.
These days I often feel overwhelmed by the overflow of information that is
funneling towards me through all the different channels of the media,
including my computer.
And yet… I LOVE information. I voraciously read, browse, observe and
devour as much as I can every day, because I love to learn more about the
world around me. It is part of my creative process – exposing myself to
lots of images and information every chance I get. It is what charges me up
and gives me a creative fire and Lifeforce… which is expressed throughout
my day. Whether you call it Chi or Prana, creative energy or ants in the
pants, it is an energy we tap into physically, mentally, emotionally and
spiritually.
So what to do with too much information, too many emails, too many phone
calls, etc?
I have to be honest with you – I am still working it out. It is one of the greatest personal challenges of this era for many, but I can share what works for me. (so far!) People always ask how I do so many different things, and the answer is this:
Set Goals, Make Lists of Things To Do, and Prioritize!
(and in between – meditate, take naps, have lunch with a friend, or do something spontaneous and silly!)
Not including spam (which I get rid of at work with Spam Arrest)
I get several hundred emails every day on 3 different accounts. Actually I
think I have 5 accounts but that is another story!
I check email often, and I delete often. If I am getting spam at home I use
Message > Block Sender. I subscribe to a lot of news services, quilt lists
and art newsletters, so I flag them and read them at night when I have more
time. I also have set up a system of folders in Outlook Express, and many emails/lists are automatically filed into their designated folder, instead of going straight to the Inbox. (with Message Rules) I have
about 30 folders, and each folder has 10-30 subfolders. This way if I want
to save something for future reference, I know it is there and I don't have
to stress about looking at it immediately. One of my folders is for eQuilter
newsletters – with about 600 newsletters (11 years' worth) stored there.
Being an Info-maniac has its pros and cons. Some of the most powerful
keynote speakers I have heard at big conferences, have said that part of
their secret to success is to read voraciously – to be an Info-maniac. When
you are in the Visual Arts – as we are – you also LOOK at as much art,
color, photography, and other visual stimuli as possible. The internet has
opened up these possiblities beyond our wildest dreams! (although there is
still NOTHING like standing in front of a Michelangelo or other great art
masterwork for a pure jolt of creative "Aha" juice!)
So how do I manage all this information? I am a supreme LIST maker. I
re-prioritize my list every day. I don't beat myself up for the myriad of
things I don't accomplish at the end of each day… I just re-prioritize for
the next day. I knock off several things from my list of things every day. I
also add things to my list every day, and I write down new tasks/goals at the time I
first think about them or talk about them. I am pretty obsessive about this. Even
though I write them down, that doesn't mean they are going to start life at
the top of my priority list. They get to go through the daily Priority Shuffle along with everything else on my list of things to do.
The way that I schedule in tasks each day is to enter them all on my schedule, on my phone, and slot them into possible times they can be accomplished. Every night I delete what was accomplished, and re-prioritize for the next day.
Creative time, self-nurturing time, and sometimes just plain ole sanity time gets scheduled in too, or these things never happen. Asking for help and delegating when possible is great if you are juggling work and art, or if you are a parent.
What are your tips for managing time, and handling the precious but overwhelming tide of Information available to all of us these days?
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