Living The Data Intense Life, Or Hardly Living?

It is Saturday night and my wife and I are babysitting two of our grandchildren, so I don't have time to write a full and well-reasoned blog post. That is why I give you this link to an excellent essay on modern-day data distraction, with more personal commentary to come later.

http://blog.commonflame.org/battling-distraction/


We all are increasingly accosted by data and information via smart phones, TV, Internet web site advertising, blogs, news stories, radio, movies, tweets, text messages, IM's, etc. I am a huge consumer of information and love the Internet for that purpose. I am very guilty of consuming information most of the time. I did the same before the Internet as an avid (and continue to be ) book and magazine reader. But we can go too far in our consumption and I am learning that my life and work are much more creative, productive and less stressful by controlling that data stream into my brain better.

This is why so many Americans have sleeping problems and frequent headaches. We are always (or nearly so) consuming data during a typical day, even on weekends.

I urge you to take stock of your life and think about what you value most. I vote for God, family and friends in that order. News and information have their places, but in smaller, better-organized and scheduled chunks than we have now.

I don't stand around with my face glued to a smart phone when idle in public - say, in a grocery store checkout line or waiting between meetings - or when visiting family. I know so many people who do this. I find it rude, and sad. I think about what those folks are missing.

I talk to people, have conversations, watch the birds and the clouds, laugh at children playing and learning. The world God gave us is the most entertaining and informative data there is. I have found enjoying that first, and taking in electronic-distributed information in smaller, controlled doses, is the best pathway to a longer, less-stressed and happier life, both professional and personal.

This has been on my mind this afternoon and evening as I have played with toddlers and dogs outdoors in the beautiful Spring weather. Feeling the breeze on my skin, laughing at childhood discovery, having a conversation with my three year old granddaughter sitting on my lap. This is what life is all about. There is plenty of time to pack our brains with even more data. Times and experiences like these come first.

Links to writing about data overload and distraction as cited in the Common Flame blog:

Sharon Begley writing for Newsweek ... http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/02/27/i-can-t-think.html

Jimi Jones on productivity and setting deadlines in order to relieve stress: http://jimijones.com/productivity/productivity-the-importance-of-setting-deadlines/

Finally, this Bible passage which is among my favourite guides for living life. In essence, there is a right time for doing everything in our lives, just not all at once. :)

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:

1 There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:

2 -8 A right time for birth and another for death,
A right time to plant and another to reap,
A right time to kill and another to heal,
A right time to destroy and another to construct,
A right time to cry and another to laugh,
A right time to lament and another to cheer,
A right time to make love and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and another to part,
A right time to search and another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and another to let go,
A right time to rip out and another to mend,
A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
A right time to love and another to hate,
A right time to wage war and another to make peace.