4 responses so far ↓

• 1 Andy Hadfield // Jun 21, 2010 at 9:34 pm

  Dude. I feel your pain. I entertained the thought of switching email off the other day. I still think it’s possible - personal email at least. There are so many feeds of information coming, so many ways to get hold of me - why have this constant battle towards InBox Zero? Which is a pipe dream anyway.

  You know where I think it’s going? Gatekeepers. Instead of trawling the web for content - I find myself choosing content gatekeepers more and more - and then trusting their streams. For instance - it’s what Philip de Wet and Branko are doing with The Daily Maverick.

  There’s money in this - overload management

  I have turned off voicemail as a start…

  Andy
  http://www.twitter.com/andyhadfield

• 2 David // Nov 9, 2010 at 11:11 am

  I came to this site looking for solutions to the exact problems you mention above!
  Ah… so I’m not alone then…
  Is it just an overly active mind?
  The are just so many things which are seemingly important, or do we just not want to miss out on anything? In psychology there is a term for this I think.

  The only good thing is the factor of ‘time’ - time shows you what is more important or less important etc.

  RSS feeds get too much too soon - agreed.
  Email newsletters add up too quickly.
  This just made me realise that Magazines, they come out ONCE a MONTH, and that’s with good reason. The time period ensures the authors think about what they are sending out, and the quality improves. For example I subscribe to NAG (covers a lot of tech/gaming news, and it’s relaxing time too).

  Why don’t email newsletters come out once a month rather? Is it because it’s so easy to splurge out stuff on the internet (just like I am doing here?)? So the easier it is to ‘publish’ - the higher the overload/noise ratio is - e.g. twitter.

  Also, I think the other important thing that isn’t really implemented is time based information, for example, if I subscribe to a newsletter or information input stream it’s because during that period, at work, or in personal life, I was interested in finding out about it… fast forward a few months and you wonder why you subscribed to it.

  So essentially we have to find quality sources, blogs etc run for a while then die out, but publications or institutes have more than one person at the helm and get information from a few places and distell it into only the best information, for example Engineering News (www.engineeringnews.co.za) - covers pretty much all big business deals in South Africa, saves one having to look around all the different news sites. Their magazine made me realize, they got all the important news from the week, and they didn’t even have to sit on the internet all day.

• 3 Art of RetroCollage // Dec 30, 2010 at 2:09 am

  I have most email newsletters automatically sent to Trash, and I scan my Trash a few times a week for the odd useful email. It saves me from having to delete each one manually. I actually have avoided RSS feeds for fear of overload, but I just started using Feedly and am setting it up to hopefully control it before it gets away from me.

• 4 NicD // Feb 3, 2011 at 1:20 am

  Compulsive Multi-Tasker’s Resolve : CMTR (made that one up on the spot) :
  1. Find the best *tech/gadgets you can afford, AND learn, in less than four Saturday mornings (with kids playing within earshot, loading the laundry, making brunch in between…),
  2. Check vision, mission and chosen direction/goals (with a few optional tangents for spice (wide view, focus on the aim and still keep the fringes in sight),
  3. Find all LCD/LCM (lowest common denominator) points and must-haves of each instrument/source, then marry the lot together, with you setting the direction/input, output and then
  4. Change management becomes the act-on part : I decide and evaluate the next weeks’ incoming stuff, based on what I’ve read, replied to, saved(archive), skimmed, screened or trashed.
  Result : In charge of own info-evolution and search paths, reading material, work stuff, reports, research and last but not least, entertainment. (Do some sport and exercise too…).
  If you know what to do and how much you want to know about anything, stop reading at this point! Read on to see how I did mine : multi-stage, multi-disciplinary project, change management included, and my own brand of evolution explained. Neccesity is the father (or is it mother?) of invention.
  *Hardware (1 unit bought, all the rest built from parts/recycled): 1 x Ubuntu Server; 1 x Win XP SP3; 1 x Win Server 2003R2; 2 x Win7 PC’s ; 4 x USB HDD; 2 x HTC WM6/6.5, 1 x Samsung WM6, 1 x Samsung [S60 3rd] 1 x Nokia [S60 3rd], 1 x HTC [now] on Android (all phones = Custom OS editions, minimum 2 up to 8Gb SD), 1 x 24port network switch, 2 x wireless AP routers(Linksys : OS = DD-WRT/Tomato), 1 x W/L BTS (Mikrotik RB500/532 [on 16m guyed sectional pole]{with 4 different antennas (2,4/5.8Ghz)}; 1 x Mikrotik Power PC 1000 (load-balancer), 2 x Self repaired(junked) UPS, 4 port KVM, 1 x FreeBSD Firewall PC, Total of four 17″/19″ CRT’s (no funds for LCD/Touch Screens yet), 1 x Multi-Media input tablet.
  Software :
  OS : Mix of Linux,Windows/WM5/6/6.5, Android,Symbian ::
  Application Software : MS Office 2003/2007/2010/Mobile, Open Office, various CRM on test, Various CAD/CAM suites, MT4/5, Hardware and software tools, automation tools, GIS/Mapping, Software projects (.Net/.NetCF/Web/DB), Comms tools, various utilities.
  :::: Inbound stream :
  Work : +/- 100 mails per day, outbound : +/- 20 (5/8 = reports)
  :: Research/Study : 250+ email news letters and alerts from software to tech updates, troubleshootings, and all matters IT/Science/Engineering/Programming/Finance (Forex,Stocks,Trades);
  :: Forums (member) : 7 at last count : Threads followed : about 15.
  Personal : = Family, close friends, Facebook, IM’s, Skype = +/- 25 in, max : 10 out, Social Networking : LinkedIn +/- 30 in, 5/8 out. :: Static and downloads : Software library : +/- 2.6Tb, Document and ePaper Library/Archive : +/- 3Tb, MyPersonalCD Collection Backup : +/- 6Tb; ::Synced files : 2 x 2Gb, 3 x 1Gb(moslty templates, PDF’s and eBooks, PPT’s or own designs of varied types/applications), Stored Favourites/Site Bookmarks : +/- 2Gb (URL’s only - in notepad++ : 200Mb), — all of this is synced via web-based app or local(static), depending the need for quick access AND regular backups/updates. (All logins on SecAccess DB, Free CRM - disconnected from network/hubs).
  Routine maintenance : House-keeping, updates, scans, anti-virus & security : 90% automated, (all opensource or free), 2 x 10minutes daily eyeball-to-screen check, over cup of java.
  Mail Rules : Incoming (from 7 different accounts[one for each field/scope of interest], plus one from work, all are domain un-related, 3 cloud-based, all local backup/sync/trash/archived) - Older than 12 months = On Data DVD) Space occupied in cloud : 60Gb)
  No RSS feeds, no Voicemail, at all.
  Streaming info : FM radio on in car : for news, sports headlines and at home : check in on select news sites : Reuters, locals (Beeld, Burger, IOL), CBS/NBC and Fox, CNN - Total : 3 x 10minutes per day, sometimes skip a day :: for local traffic (have many shortcuts for non-4×4 use, at fingertips, on gps-phone, with tracking&logging, inverter and laptop). MO : Same as mail - check headlines, skim select articles, find what ticks me - on or off, read, evaluate, then do mental “delete” or read thoroughly if within scope of interest.
  Outgoing mail : 3 accounts, domain un-related (2 cloud-based, all local backup)
  Whitelist senders -forwarded to phone(when on the move),
  Known entities - headers only, stay on server ,(until I sit down, after dinner/late night)
  “out-of-the-blue” = unknown, never previously received mail from or not in any of my contact lists : scanned, no attachments allowed, forward to phone, immediate delete if not interested after 15second skimming/screening. Too much spam and scams out there!
  Check email headers 6 times a day, push-mails checked and attended to or deleted as they arrive. SMS / text messages : likewise. If no reply is needed, archive or delete, depending future reference. If reply needed, do so, or transfer to notes - to be set as reminder/appointment/action item in synced tasks at next sit down, or as deadline requires.
  –
  This was a process(Managed by Objectives), but can be done easy on smaller scale - hare-brained wireboys like me have many areas of interest, sometimes to our detriment : All things technical, from comms to thermodynamics to code blocks and finding the limits of each piece of hi-tech we can lay our hands on for 5mins. Thus, the need for detail analysis, dedicated methodology, and a flexible(not floppy!) plan of action. And then read, learn…, test, try again.
  My one goal for next 6months : Functioning 3D protoype designed, seed funding and 1st build and trail testing.
  Drawback : No degree(s) in any engineering or IT field = Result : Learn by trail and error, about more than I intended, many moons by the mindnight candle (read as : “possibly on permanent matrimonial tight-rope” - such is the life of serial entrepeneurs/inventors or in my case : tinkerer). Resolve : I will not lie down, run away, give up or cry “Overflow!”. That’s tantamount to DDoS quick death = emotional meltdown / zombieitis.
  To Anyone reading this far, my apologies, and also a compliment. Find what works for you, all that you would want to know and be aware of, then distill it. More is always possible, less is usually better…. Asking is free, runnig up search engines and reading mostly too. 80% of what I employ (hardware) was junk when I found/received it, 70% of the software is free and/or open source, the time to do it : well, as Aristotle put it once : “The need for knowledge is like that of oxygen to your lungs : put your head under water, you will find your way upward, to breathe fresh air.” or something very similar…

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