technology

Photo by: altemark / cc 2.0

Now that I’ve talked about staying productive and sane at work when you’re feeling overwhelmed, I want to spend some time focusing on the technology aspects of this problem. Specifically, how you can use technology to make your life easier (not harder!).

The blessing (and curse) of technology

Technology enables us to consume vaster and vaster quantities of information at an ever-increasing pace. We no longer rely on the local newspaper or the national networks to provide us with our news – now we can cobble together our own 24 hr news stream. We can reach beyond our neighborhood, our family, and our workplace to form communities with like-minded individuals all over the world. But when you’re feeling overwhelmed, the last thing you need is *more*.

You need less technology to make you feel more connected.

_{(Are you glimpsing a pattern here?)}

Start by cleaning house

Do you notice yourself automatically archiving or deleting messages (email, newsletters, RSS feeds) from certain people/organizations? Here’s a novel idea… stop archiving or deleting and start unsubscribing. Trust me. Spend 30 minutes to an hour and really clean out your email(s) and feed reader, you’ll be glad you did.

Now, do the same thing for Facebook. And Twitter. And LinkedIn. And your address book.

_{(If you’re feeling anxious about this, then back up your information. Trust me, that Facebook fan page for your favorite breakfast cereal will still be there when you come back.)}

Pare down your information stream so that everything you receive is something you want. Messages from your (real) friends. Discounts on stuff that you *want* to buy.

Use good tools.

Tools that are (often, but not always) single function, well designed, and easy to use. For me, this includes:

• Gmail
• Google Calendar
• Chrome or Mozilla Firefox (for browsing)
• Keybreeze (app launcher)
• Notepad++ (for code-type stuff)
• DarkRoom (for writing)
• Flickr (for pictures)
• Pandora (for music)
• Pinboard (for bookmarking)
• WordPress (for blogging/CMS/web development) + Thesis (premium theme for WordPress)

Sure, I can write an article in Microsoft Word, but why would I when I can generate the same content in a distraction free environment (DarkRoom) in a file that’s 1/10th the size and readable by any word processing tool (.txt)? I’ve switched my online bookmarking from Delicious to Pinboard because now I can bookmark a page with one click.

Spend the time learning the tools and creating your custom toolkit, then let the rest go.

Where will you start today? Which technology “room” will get the clean sweep? What tools will fall out of (or go into) your streamlined toolkit?

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