Do you ever feel like you are living in information overload? I have felt that way recently. Part of my writer’s training is to learn how to manage my time. I am surprised, now that I’m working from home, how many people assume I’m not working at all. Interruptions flow all around me.
One of the best books I have read about Time management is Sage Cohen’s, The Productive Writer: Tips and Tools to Help you Write More, Stress Less and Create Success. Her book can apply to more than writing. I encourage you to check it out.
I’m also discovering that time management today (at least for me) is more about quality time. Taking a break or stepping away from the computer provides fallow ground where new projects grow and bloom.
The weeds of information overload can choke away quality time and therefore a quality life. As I age, (I am a Grandma you know) I have learned that multi-tasking is not really my thing anymore. I remember when I could almost attend more than one meeting at a time and that was before computers and webinars. That’s not the case today. It’s not because I couldn’t pull it off, it’s because to do so will make me frenetic, more stressed and less productive.
To remain balanced, peaceful and productive, I need to manage information overload. So how do I do that? I set boundaries, schedules, appointments and take breaks. I don’t need to respond immediately to every email that comes into my mailbox. I set a time and sometimes a specific day to “do technology” as I call it. That’s when I respond to, read, or better yet, delete emails.
I also figuratively go up into the hills to rest and pray as Jesus did. I visit certain Facebook pages that exude God’s peace and Holy Presence. I respond to folks on The Way Followers and Holy Listening pages because I find peace and rest there.
Inviting the Holy, being present to God and others, and offering rest in our overloaded world, is a quality life for me. I want to be an oasis in the storm of information overload. I don’t want to be the storm. Some days I am calm. Other days, not so much. The good news is—I get to keep practicing.
