information overload

I haven't been posting much on my blog.  You might have noticed this.  I think about doing a post every day and in fact I have about six draft posts in various states of completion.  Having a post partially completed though is the same as no post from your perspective.  I get that.

It has been bothering me that I am not posting as often as I would like.  I committed to myself that if I started a blog, I would post two or three times a week.  During December and January I have not been achieving this.

There's any number of reasons.  Reasons of course make little difference; either there's a new post, or there's no new post.

I finally bought myself a copy of the 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss.  My sweetie has been recommending I read it since we met.  It got to be the right time for me and I bought it.  The book is amazing and it will change my life.

One of the things Tim talks about is being careful with what you spend your time doing, and that includes what you spend your time reading.  What this has had me become acutely aware of is the massive amount of information that I take in every day.  And most - probably 90% - of this information is not useful to me.  It takes time to read that I can't then spend reading or doing something else.  It doesn't move me closer to my goals.  Or make me better able to accomplish the things that I am up to.  It doesn't offer me a new perspective that causes me to think differently about things.

Thinking about this has had me take some immediate actions.  For one, I have gone through my subscriptions in google reader and unsubscribed from three quarters of my feeds.  I am going to be very deliberate about anything I add in.

It also has had me think about my blog posts, and what I intend my blog to be for.  Short, easy to read posts that might possibly have you think slightly differently about something in a way that makes a difference for you.  Maybe it's in how you feel about your day.  Or your relationship with someone.  Maybe it has you be just a little bit happier or more content with your life.  Maybe it has you get in touch with someone you haven't talked to for awhile.  Maybe (in the case of this post), it has you make a little change in what you are up to every day that brings you greater satisfaction, or creates some space in your day to contribute to someone or something else.

That's what I intend.  And I will keep being deliberate about my posts.  The number of posts doesn't matter; what matters is whether the post is what I want my blog to be for people.  It's cool to see that.