I’m about to tell you something that I am not proud of. Are you sitting down? Here goes:
I am a junkie.
An information junkie. Troubled by a lack of production recently, I decided to track my internet usage. And lo and behold (though don’t tell this to my current employer) I spend WAY too much time looking at news sites. I then go crawling through to other sites and next thing you know, I’ve been reading news sites for over an hour.
And what was the result? I simply read six different people’s opinions about whether Roger Clemens was telling the truth about steroids—nary a one of them defending ol’ Roger.
So, what can I do about it?
Well, I’ve decided to take the advice of one Tim Ferriss, writer of the Four Hour Workweek. Tim spoke at South by Southwest last year at the same time I did. And let me say, this is one of my favorite books of non-fiction. I’ve been re-reading it recently, and he has an entire chapter on a low-information diet.
Tim recommends cultivating “selective ignorance.” This means acquiring information that is “actionable” and being ignorant of the rest (or simply ask knowledgeable people on a subject).
Like me, Tim really doesn’t buy into the whole time management concept, as much as he says that “time management” is a process of eliminating wasteful activities. I quite agree.
So, I have decided to battle my own demons here. In the past, I turned off my internet connection when I worked. This is a great method. But it’s time I battle this head-on.
To that end, I am going on a one-week media fast. According to Tim Ferriss, a media fast means:
1. No news web sites (so long WSJ, MSNBC, Slate, please not Fark.com too)
2. No newspapers, magazines, audio books, or talk radio.
3. No television, except one hour of pleasure viewing each night.
4. No reading except for Tim’s book and one hour of fiction.
5. No web surfing unless it’s necessary to complete a task for that day.
I shutter just thinking of these. How will I find out about the Hillary-Obama showdown? How will I know about what happened to Roger Clemens? In Ferriss’ book, he recommends taking 5 minutes to read some headlines and asking people what’s going on. As for me, part of my job is writing an educational program based on the news, hence I tend to go to sites in order to confirm some information only to find myself NEVER getting off.
So, I will limit my news intake to only that which my job requires: listening to a 4-minute headline news broadcast and reading tow Korea-related news articles. And that’ll be that.
But some will be easy. I don’t really watch TV unless you count the half-hour of Power Rangers I should endure in the evenings with my daughter. There’s nothing I love more than watching the Japanese version of Power Rangers with Korean dubbing over the top!
But I do read a lot of fiction. Tim and I will agree to disagree on the role of fiction. He finds it’s good to put you to sleep, but I find fiction triggers the creative process.
I will document how my media fast is going. And you will see if it boosts my productivity any more than it is now.
Shouldn’t I be fasting in protest of something?
As I am about to end this post, it occurs to me that shouldn’t I be fasting in protest of something? I think personal development is great cause in and of itself. And going on a media fast to increase productivity is great.
But I mean, think about it. All the other great fasters fasted for a great cause. Every time I read in the news about someone fasting, it is in protest of something. So, I think I’ll come up with a noble cause to go along with my media fast.
I guess I could say this is about protesting the media. But I kind of like the media. Why don’t I use my last few minutes before fasting to get on a news site and find a cause worthy of my media fast.
Let’s see…world news…Darfur, war, poverty…too heavy for this kind of fast…
I’m a basketball fan, so there it is folks. From today, I am going on a one-week media fast to protest the media’s lack of respect for LeBron James and his team. Since the media has upset LeBron James, I too am upset.
(cue the rage) How dare the media criticize LeBron’s team! They made it all the way to the finals last year for Pete’s sake (only to get beaten by my beloved San Antonio Spurs).
But you wouldn’t know that by the way the media totally disrespects LeBron James. I’ve had enough!
I will continue this fast until the media starts showing LeBron the respect he deserves. And I am sure after my one-week fast I can google up a puff piece on LeBron, but until I do so–I am fasting.
Wish me luck.
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Categories: Eliminating Clutter, Productivity, Simplify Your Life
Tags: four hour workweek, Lebron James, low information diet, south by southwest, tim ferriss, Time Management
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