The longer I do this, the more I suspect that a good part of the “information overload” story is a myth cooked up by folks who don’t know how to use the internet well in order to demonize something they don’t understand. I get more done via email and surfing the web than my parents ever did using phones and libraries, even when I’m having a bad day and switch to my email application the moment I see a new message notification.
At least three other well-seasoned internet veterans agree. In chapter 5 of her book, Connect!, Anne Zelenka argues against “firewalling your attention” to block out distractions and get things done. That’s the old way of thinking; Zelenka asserts that you can be productive by being open to tangents, distractions, and the riding the flowing river of news and information you’re exposed to on the web each day. In defense of “wasted” time online, author Clay Shirky points out that interacting online is so much better than what we used to do with our free time (that is, watch TV or get ripped). Even Bill Gates said that we’re actually suffering from information underload, not overload. (Though Gates, then head of a giant software maker, did say we need better products to manage the information we do get—and surely his company’s out to make them.)
” Opinion: What Productivity Studies Really Show