With the advent of the Internet and pocket sized computing devices, we are inundated with information. We can work 24/7. We can look up all kinds of useless information. We can follow the daily lives of celebrities and other people for no reason whatsoever. We can drive down the freeway with a cell phone held up to one ear and a laptop computer on the seat beside us, while we are looking at a notebook.

As a culture, we have not yet learned how to cope with this information. Xerox takes a humorous look at how access to all this information affects us.

YouTube: Information Overload Syndrome, or IOS.

There is a grain of truth in the video where it illustrates that the massive quantities of information consumed by people is making them dumber.

I remember a time when I could keep my current schedule in my head. When I knew what was going on around me.

Those days are gone. But, IOS is not the only cause.

Burnout. I've been meaning to write about this topic for a while. Unfortunately, I have been too busy. I am an independent business owner. I am also an active intactivist. I do a lot of marketing and promoting, both of my business and as an intactivist. Most nights I do not get home until 3 or 4am and I get up between 7 and 8am. I have very little free time.

Not only am I exposed to a lot of information, but I am trying to create lots of information. This blog is one example. I also have 5 other websites that I maintain. I attended a seminar today and the video above was part of the presentation. The humor was helpful, but the message was clear.

In today's information age and with the current state of the economy where people are working harder than ever (whether employed or looking for work), everyone is stressed. Past a certain point, the stress leads to burnout. There is too much information. There is too much to do. There is not enough time, money, people, whatever. I am feeling stressed. It takes me forever to do simple tasks because I have trouble concentrating and keeping my focus on the task at hand.

How to combat burnout? That is a question that I am trying to answer. I need to reduce my stress, to eat right, and to get enough exercise and sleep. Hah!

I am trying to reduce my workload from my business. I am hiring a new guy to carry some of the load - but now I have to make enough mony to pay him. I want to reduce the information overload, both incoming and outgoing, but it is a losing battle at the moment. I should stop blogging, but I cannot and will not.

Well, this post started out with sharing a humorous video and progressed to an indictment of my way of life. But, after all, this site is about my efforts at restoring. I really need to restore my life. Wish me luck.
 

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