We're Still Trying to Deal with 'Data Smog'

Slate has posted an interesting retrospective from David Shenk about his famous book, Data Smog.

Back in 1997, Shenk wrote that, thanks to the information revolution spawned by the Internet, we were in danger of being overwhelmed by too much information. Now, 10 years later, Shenk finds that, while he was just plain wrong about some of his concerns, his main theme has proven all too real. We are increasingly struggling with too much data and how to process it -- "a nonstop orgy of connectedness that can sometimes crowd out tenderness and meaning."

Shenk's reflections were posted Wednesday, the same day that I interviewed Josh Ehrlich of BeamPines in New York, who works with top-level executives on just this "data smog" issue -- how to avoid being overwhelmed by technology when you're trying to lead an organization.

His job is to help business leaders learn to turn off technology's siren call, so that it won't distract them from important issues. (Ehrlich's profession probably wouldn't have even existed before data smog came into our lives.) It's tough because, as he says, Americans are not that good at being able to sit back and reflect. He says it's important to learn do this in external and in internal ways.

"We have to change the environment," he told me. If focus is needed for an important task, "turn off the computer screen or the TV or the BlackBerry. And then internally, we have to discipline our minds to slow down."

He recommends taking in a "mindful" breath, to borrow an idea from Buddhism. When the cell phone rings or the instant message comes in, pause a moment to decide if you want to interrupt what you're doing to answer, and then take a deep breath to help you shift away from the previous task and focus on the new one.

The trick is, he says (and I love this line), don't get on every thought train. "You have to control your own attention and not let the technology control it."

2:55 PM ET | 07-26-2007 | permalink