[...] post by Dan Edelen at Cerulean Sanctum about the increasing difficulty of coping with information overload. Too much data—even edifying data, like a good sermon or an insightful blog post—can be [...]

My take on the problem, as I work to overcome it, is that it is not just an issue of information overload, but that things are moving too quickly. Introverts like myself find it particularly toxic to live in a fast, stimulated environment.

So what’d I do?

I figured, since it was a problem of overload and too fast, that I needed to counteract.

1. I don’t watch the news, or much TV in general. TV news is often meant to be surface, introductory, inflammatory, and promote gut emotion. Nothing good there.
2. I limit my online reading, because it is catered to fast, bite-sized reading and not generally about savoring or dwelling on.
3. I continue to read books, because I think that the fact that the printing press wasn’t invented back in Paul’s day ought not be overlooked or ignored. Books are, in themselves, a slow thing. And that helps in solving the too-fast problem.
4. I write letters to people. Genuine pen across paper no computer printer long letters no cards to people. Again, it’s a slow thing, it’s tangible, and it speaks volumes.
5. I limit my grocery shopping to once a week, and no more “run out and grab” things, mainly since here in nowhere, North Dakota, running out to grab things is about a half-hour drive. But again, it’s a thing that goes against the “convenience” grain.
6. And so on.

In general, if it’s convenient, it’s probably harming or killing you. That goes for food, lifestyle, work, electronic devices, everything. Bring back the paper and pencil to your life, and throw away the boxed food. You’d be amazed how much time you don’t have to surf the web or watch TV anymore.

It’s always a danger to associate my vision of perfection with a place I’m not at. I’ve been to small villages in Europe, which do, indeed, have great little shops as well as an increasing number of Americanized supermarkets. The older generation are lovely. The youth, however, spray paint graffiti on everything, and throw cigarette butts all over the place. Eutopia is nowhere, and the past, stripped of idealism, was pretty harsh, too. This is the time and place I am. So I have to make it work here.

This is not a geographically-based truth. You can make it work where you are at. This often involves unplugging things.