Monday Motivation: Finding Quiet in the Noise
Our appetite for information grows as new ways are introduced to create and access it. It’s a never ending cycle where the only thing that doesn’t change is the amount of time we have. Like most things when we have too much of something happening all at the same time it becomes noise. We don’t realize it’s noise since we all grew up thinking the more information we can get the better.
We live in a time where there is a lot of information to consume. Be it from the choices we have on television shows or movies, news, social media, websites, games and everything else in between. Add to that the information we have at work. It’s no longer just having email. Email is just the beginning and it grows from there. It would be hard pressed to get bored with the amount information out there and the many ways we can access it.
We all have something in our lives that create so much noise. I’m guilty of stockpiling whitepaper I find online. I have worked long enough to remember what the internet was like in 1995. Web sites looked like a second grader, did it. Finding websites giving away shiny, beautiful looking white papers for free in exchange for my email address was literally like a gift. Now, if you ask me what have I done with those, I can tell you there’s a 50% chance I read it. Another 30% chance that it’s saved somewhere. I realized I was doing this when I was cleaning out folders on my computer. Like finding an old picture of oneself sporting the latest hairstyle and fashion, I shrug and express to myself “What am I thinking?!!?”. Then I catch my breath and realize there is hope for me since I no longer sport that awful haircut and my fashion choices have matured. I am still not completely over downloading free white paper online. I just made some progress. Namely, I have acknowledged that this behavior of mine is a source of noise in my life. Admitting this I have learned to think before I hit click to that free download. If by chance I still click I skim through it real quick and if I don’t find value from it right away it goes straight to the trash.