My News Fast

I didn’t do it on purpose – stop watching the news, that is. Matter of fact, I never really watched much news, but I listened to a pretty good amount of NPR, and a lot of online sources (everything from a full suite of feeds in my Google Reader to the constantly refreshing DrudgeReport + any news items that showed up in my social feeds).

But then a few things happened all at the same time, and I decided that it was largely time for news and I to take a break.

Perfect Storm

At the same time as Google Reader was given the axe, I found my morning routine shifting from NPR in the kitchen to music. I liked this shift, and found myself not less informed, but more attentive when things did crop up, and with more time and mental bandwidth to process these things.

I decided to take another step and cut out the news-specific web browsing habits I had. Goodbye, DrudgeReport.

Then a funny thing happened. I didn’t miss it – at all.

Uninformed = unintelligent?

I’ll be the first to admit that I did worry some about being uninformed because I was making the conscious choice to shut things out. The last thing I wanted to be was an ostrich, with my head in the sand pretending that if I didn’t see something, it wasn’t happening.

But, really, most of the news that makes it into our 24/7 cycle is of little consequence to our individual daily lives, and yet costs us an enormous amount of mental and emotional resources.

The day the Boston Bombings were breaking, I had a pre-scheduled doctor’s appointment. Nothing serious or dangerous, but I found myself wanting to compulsively check Twitter or some other news site to see if there were any more details that had emerged (much less been verified or run to ground).

I realized as the tragic Boston Bombing was playing out on every screen and speaker that I owned that humans simply aren’t wired for this sort of onslaught.

What was I to do about this situation? I’m not a first responder in Boston, or a United States Attorney, or an intelligence officer. My worrying about it isn’t going to resolve it any more quickly, and it’s going to keep me from focusing on things that truly do need my attention.

Two Weeks Later

After two solid news-free weeks, I’ve found that I really don’t miss it at all. Yes, I’ve been a little out of the loop on Syria, but similar to Boston, my ability to impact the situation is minimal.

On the other hand, I’ve found myself generally lighter, less distracted, with more time and attention to dedicate to the things more core to my daily existence.

I’m not saying that I’ve given up news forever, but I am saying that I’m taking a much more measured approach to it – almost like exercise. There’s a certain amount required for an optimal life, but a 24/7 dedication to it leads to a pretty unbalanced existence.

So, for now, news and I will remain broken up. If we do get back together, it’ll be on my terms, not theirs. But that’s a big if – I’m pretty happy with how things are now.

I’ve been dabbling with minimalism and zen efforts for years – but never very seriously. I mean – don’t get me wrong – I do my techie zen duty. I use Apple products. I buy unbranded t-shirts. I listen to Merlin Mann and read Leo Babauta.

But I’ve been thinking more and more lately about how I can make more minimal moves within my technology choices, as opposed to with my technology choices.

Inspired by this article [http://log.chrisbowler.com/post/50115173006/reading-list] from Chris Bowler on the power of Apple’s Safari Reading List feature, I’ve deleted Chrome from my iOS devices.

I’ve also removed apps where I can use the mobile web interface just as easily. I’ve still got nearly 50 apps, and feel like that’s a lot, but I’m down to less than ever.

In addition to slimming down my home screen, it’s been pretty interseting to think about other ways I can slim down my intra-technology choices. Largely, this has to do with philosophies involving eliminating multi-tasking and only working on one thing at a time. When you download something, take care of it – however that process is – and then put it in a retrievable place or delete it. Don’t leave things hanging around in random folders, or on your desktop. If you’re not "done" with that file – work until you are. Avoid the rabbit holes that litter our technologies.

I’m doing okay at incorporating this idea. Better, for sure, than I had been. But not as good as I could. I’ve also tried to do just one thing at a time during my day outside of my technology. That’s even harder to pick up one thing, get completely done with it, and then move one.

But – as the philosophy itself suggests – work on one thing at a time, like this blog post, and then move on to the next, like having a snack. Appreciate what you’re working on, while you’re working on it, and it’ll look like it was appreciated. Slop through it while you’re multi-tasking and it’ll look like you slopped through it.

So, while I’m not perfect at doing one thing at a time, I’m thinking about it and working hard to get better at it. Now – I’m off to post this post before that snack.

I was fortunate enough to attend a lecture last night by a young and "rising star" technology critic, Evgeny Morozov. He has garnered much attention through his two books, Net Delusion and To Save Everything, Click Here, providing sharp, if thoughtful, critiques to those who would see and seek technology as the answer to difficult societal problems.

As all of my interactions with Morozov have come intermediated through writing and not in-person meetings or TED Talk videos, I had no idea he had such an accent. I don’t know why this struck me, for I knew he was born in Belarus and that English was not his first language. But when I read his words, I hear them as I’d say them – sans accent. So, while his accent is not so think that he’s difficult to understand, there were certain words that stuck out (‘surveillance’ pronounced ‘survey-ance’ for instance).

But to the point of his talk, Morozov is concerned by two major technological advances, and their confluence.

On the one hand, Morozov cites the rise of sensors and smart devices (phones) that can interact with these sensors. On the other, the rise of highly visible social presences (read: Facebook) that allow peer pressure and "gamification" to reach a whole new level.

Much of Morozov’s talk centered around the core idea of unintended (or perhaps unforeseen or intended but minimized) external implications of these technologies. One of the most striking examples he offered was that of landlords asking for your Facebook profile to assess your qualifications as a tenant. As someone who (like Morozov) is not on Facebook, this puts me at a severe disadvantage (depsite being an outstanding tenant).

As having a Facebook account becomes the new norm, those outside or beyond the norm are suddenly put at a distinct disadvantage. "The problem with averages," he noted, "is that half of every group is below average."

The other strong takeaways from Morozov’s talk revolved around the framing of problems in reference to existing technological solutions. He suggests that many times we see the problem in terms of a solution we already have, rather than working hard and perhaps having serious dialogue to define the problem in it’s largest and most natural sense rather than scoping it down to something an existing technology can quickly fix. I think this is a fantastic point and one well worth considering as we enter the age of self-driving cars, behavior prediction apps, and "cyberwar" – whatever that means.

This is not, however, to say that I’m 100% in agreement with Morozov. In fact, his recent critiques of fellow technology critic Jaron Lanier struck me as odd after seeing him speak. I suspect that he and Lanier are not so different, in that they are fighting to ensure that the oddity of being human is not bumped out of our daily lives by databases, algorithms, user interface choices, or social gamification driven by sensors connected to our smartphones.

But don’t worry, Evgeny, there’s plenty of technology to be critical of, and I wouldn’t worry too much about job security. You’ll be plenty busy for the forseeable future – until an algorithm starts writing the critiques themselves.

With Spring finally upon us here in Seattle, I’m hearing lots of people using outside metaphors in relationship to their work – both in the yard and in the office. Two of these stick out as being particularly relevant and simultaneously most mis-used, so I thought I’d set the record straight about how I think of these two turns of phrase:

1. Sharpen the Saw
2. Water the Garden

Sharpen the Saw

Introduced as Habit 7 by Stephen Covey in his book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he describes sharpening the saw as:

Balance and renew your resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable, long-term, effective lifestyle. It primarily emphasizes exercise for physical renewal, prayer (meditation, yoga, etc.) and good reading for mental renewal. It also mentions service to society for spiritual renewal.

Without reading too much into Covey’s theological stance towards these issues (plenty more available there in his other book, The Divine Center) here’s my take: you’ve gotta keep your tools clean, sharp, and ready to use. When you’re not using them, make sure they’re ready to be used at a moment’s notice before putting them away. If you’ve got the chance, really make sure your tools are the best they can be, or prepare a new tool for a job that might be coming in the future.

To put this into 21st century parlance, you’ve got to get some time away from the screen, some content into your brain that isn’t directly related to your professional responsibilities, and do some things that are good for your "soul," described as however you might describe that.

Sharpening the Saw doesn’t mean learning two new programming languages so you can be a better asset to your firm. This isn’t a bad thing, but that’s not the point of this Habit, or this saying. Instead, spend some time thinking about and doing other things, so that when you’re faced with a problem in the office, you’ve got plenty of new contexts to draw from for inspiration. Just doing more of the same to prepare for more of the same will only make you better at doing more of the same.

Water the Garden

I most recently ran into this phrase in an Esquire interview with Valarie Jarrett, Senior White House Advisor to President Barack Obama. In that interview, she said:

You can’t expect people to put your friendship on hold because you’re in a demanding job. Friends require investment. Like a garden, you have to water them. If you don’t, they dry up.

Watering the Garden is a metaphor for all of those small, little thigns that are an absolute requirement for the entire system to move forward, but are easy to overlook. Again, for the 21st century, this can be things like maintaining your email in a timely manner, creating time to focus on your work instead of meetings, or making sure that you’ve got the little things taken care of like packing a lunch or stocking the fridge/cabinet with good snacks, etc.

Watering the Garden is not the same as getting additional training, investing in skills, or other things that help you "grow." That’s more akin to planning the garden, tilling and turning the soil, planting the seeds, covering them when it’s getting cold at night, etc. Water is a foregone conclusion that absolutely has to happen for any of those other things to work. Without it, as Ms. Jarrett notes, things will wilt.

So, as you consider either the actual or metaphorical sharpening of your saws and watering of your gardens this Spring, think about what you’re really trying to get done, and how what you’re doing will help you reach your goals. It’s okay if it doesn’t play in directly, but it should at least support a bigger effort. If not, maybe it’s time to go back to the drawing board, and Begin with the End in Mind.

We celebrate something nice in our lives, and our 50th episode, along with a little bit of reflection.
Check it out on the Millennious Tumblr.

Lately, I’ve been thinking more and more about my reading habits, preferences, and abilities.

Like many people, I wish I read more – books, magazines, essays, articles, and many other things both good and bad for your mind. But I don’t. I really don’t read that much, not nearly as much as I’d like, nor as I get credit for. I do, however, notice a few patterns about my reading, and thought that if I could capture/quantify those, I might be able to help myself make some changes in the direction that I’d like.

I find myself reading four main things:

- articles and posts from the web (usually in Instapaper).
- magazines (real ones, not on my iPad).
- books in physical form.
- books on my Kindle.

## Articles, Posts, and Web Content

This is by far my most-used category, both in terms of frequency and in volume. I’m a digital denizen, and see a constant flow of information and content throughout my day. In attempting to deal with it, I’ve grown fond of Instapaper (a service recently sold by its creator to another group, now with a tenuous future). As I move through my digital day, I capture things I’d like to read but not right now. Most of this comes from my Twitter stream on my phone – I really don’t want to read long articles on my phone, but I don’t mind finding them there and saving them for later.

I usually read these longer, saved articles in an hour or two over the weekend on my iPad. I save, share, clip, critique, and generally process them as I would any other more in-depth piece of content. I focus on what I’ve collected throughout the week, but also try to get to the pile each week so as not to be overwhelmed. If it’s been a while and I haven’t gotten around to reading it, I delete it. If it’s really important, I would’ve made time to read it. I didn’t. I move on.

## Magazines

I like to read just a little bit before I go to bed as a way to mentally transition to a more restful state at the end of the day. I also have a "no screens in the bedroom" rule (Kindle excepted, see next section), so that nixes any iPad usage. I also have a secret fond spot for magazine ads. Not that they influence my purchases much, but I sure like to see what the advertisers would like me to buy. But that’s not the reason I read magazines before bed.

The truth is I can only read for about 10 minutes before my eyelids get too heavy to continue. If I’m trying to read a book of substance, this is only a few pages, and I really don’t retain that much, having to go back and re-read the section the next night. But magazines are perfect – short articles, lots of pictures, no need to absorb content in-depth.

## Books In Physical Form

In an an effort to support all of my librarian friends, and in conjunction with the fact that I live 3 blocks from my local branch, I’ve been making liberal use of my Seattle Public Library card. There are lots of things I like about reading books in physical form, but after having moved many times, the last thing I want to do is carry a bunch of books around. So I generally have one or two physical books (almost always library books) going at any given time. Any more than that gets to be budensome, at least in a physical sense.

Hence, the liberal use of my Kindle.

## Books On My Kindle

I don’t have a fancy Kindle. No Fire, no HD. In fact, I have the cheapest Kindle you can buy. I think it was $70. I love it. A screen that just does one thing: text. It does it amazingly well. It’s light, small enough to slip into any jacket or back pocket (don’t sit on it, though), and lasts a month on a single charge if you turn the WiFi off. Holds more books than I could ever read. Can buy books on impulse and have them delivered in less than a minute.

What’s not to like?

Seriously, though, I use my Kindle as a way to deal with my intellectual ADD – I can’t read just one book at a time, and I don’t always want to read the same type of book. For me, the Kindle is perfect. Feel like an Airport Thriller? Got that. Something from the NYTimes Best Seller List? Got that, too. The latest business book? Yep. Feel like doing a few pages of each until you settle into one? No problem – two buttons and you can jump between any of them.

## Where To Go From Here

Yet, it’s been more than a month since I’ve finished a book on my Kindle, in physical form, or otherwise. Too much jumping around? Maybe. But maybe it’s not a fault of the structure of my reading contexts, but due simply to the fact that I’ve been busy. Not busy in the "I can’t, I’m busy"-excuse type of way. Busy in the "I’ve been doing other things that I want to do and reading hasn’t been a high enough priority to actually get any done" sort of a way.

So, for now, I’ll stick to my weekly saved article review and the occasional flipping of a few magazine pages before I nod off at night. Eventually, I’ll come back to the books, just not right now.

And I’m okay with that.

I can’t give it all away here, now can I?

Head over to Medium to experience my post exactly the way it’s supposed to be experienced.

I have had an incredibly busy past few days. In addition to family obligations, it seems like every single project I’m involved in is looking for attention at the same time.

As a result, some of my normal "adulthood" activities (exercise, laundry, etc.) have gotten pushed to the bottom of the priority pile as I work to keep up with my personal and professional obligations.

Continue reading →

While I didn’t exactly do New Year’s Resolutions this year, I did post some goals that I wanted to try to achieve this year. My list was fairly simple for the year: run 500 miles, read 50 books, cook 50 recipes, and take 100 pictures worth sharing.

So how’s it going?

Continue reading →

Hiram M. Chittenden Locks // Ballard, WA // 29 MAR 2013