Read Time= 5 Minutes
Over the past year I have been on what I like to call a personal renaissance. I have been on this huge kick of learning more about the things I’m interested in, improving the things I already know, and challenging my hardcore beliefs.
I’ve read more books in this last year than I have in the previous 23 years of my life. I’m not making that up. It’s a fact!
The funny thing is, I have a REALLY hard time reading. Although reading isn’t my favorite form of learning, it is the most readily available, the easiest to scan, and the least time consuming.
Where do I find time for anything but a few major hobbies and passions in my life? Although most everything I do revolves around aviation, I am also interested in photography, videography, graphics design, motion graphics, computer building, web design, UX design, branding, entrepreneurship, self improvement, blogging, writing music, hiking, biking, fishing and all the obvious aviation stuff.
How do I keep up with all of them? I don’t! I choose a select few, and pursue them.
Here are some tricks that will help you cut through the muck.
Sources
Facebook is a great place to get instant feedback on a product, find like minded people in our hobby, and get personal. You can usually tell how involved a company is with their brand by looking at their Facebook page (if they even have one).
This isn’t to say that Facebook is the only indication that a brand is involved with their customers, but in today’s world, it’s dang important!
Google Reader with RSS
Whenever I find a blog that really sparks my interest, I signup for their RSS feed. RSS is essentially an automatic system that’ll notify you when something new is posted by that person.
If you have a Google account, you can pipe this through Google’s Reader (available to anyone with a free Google account) and view your stuff as needed. I check mine a few time a day. There are many other systems that also do RSS, so check your favorite email client.
Email Feeds
For those of you who don’t want to have to mess with Google Reader, I understand. The good news is that most sources will also have an email signup in addition to RSS. This means that instead of having to use a reader, you can get the feeds as if it were an email being sent to you.
Google Alerts
Google has something called Google Alerts. You can setup a keyword search and be notified, however often you want, on what the most relevant pieces of the internet are for those keywords. I’ve found some awesome stuff using this method.
Stumble Upon
StumbleUpon is one of the most addicting and time consuming things you can do on the internet, but it’ll get you the best stuff faster than most anything else.
StumbleUpon is basically a place where you sign up for an account, and ‘like’ pages that are of interest to you. By then using tags like, ‘flight sim, fsx, airplanes’ etc, others (like yourself) can find these great bits and rate them as well.
When you hit the ‘Stumble’ button, it’ll take you to a relevant and popular page based on your interests. I’ve found some of the most amazing things on the internet with this jewel. The sad thing is that flight simmers really haven’t caught on to this powerhouse yet.
Filters
I am now going to share with you how I filter information in my life, with all of the sources that I talked about above. This is important because I have a wee brain that gets confused really easily. I can only take so much, so whatever I do take must be important.
Here are 5 things I do to filter information quickly:
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I read the title of a news article or blog and know immediately if I’m interested.
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I look for supporting media. Pictures, video, and more. These give credibility to the item.
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I then scan for lists or things that catch my eye beyond media.
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I read the intro.
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I read the whole article.
Now, if any one of these items fails to catch my eye or interest, I move on or delete. That’s it. There’s no point in reading everything that comes my way. By not engaging any further this is feedback to the author that you aren’t interested. If the author is worth their salt, they’ll do something different next time.
If you choose to move on at this point, go ahead, I’ll understand. This blog will forever improve based on user input.
If not, read on.
If something is very relevant, well put together, and I know that others would love the piece, I will bookmark it or ‘like’ it. Social media now allows us to give direct and instant positive feedback on the things that come our way. For me it’s not just about subscribing. It’s about being involved and using that as a ‘thank you’.
If you like something, comment and/or share it. Don’t be greedy.
Negative= Not saying anything/deleting.
Positive= Sharing
Simplify
One of the many things I am learning more about is time management. My time is valuable to me. I want to spend less time working and more time with my family. This doesn’t mean that I have to sacrifice quality or work less. It just means I just work smarter.
Over the past several months I have been switching everything to a web based system. Things that can be accessed anywhere at any time. Email, project management, file storage, you name it. When I go looking for a solution for a problem, I want something that can be accessed anywhere.
So what does this mean for time management and all the new information coming your way?
I have 1 or 2 places all my information goes to. It’s far too easy to get bogged down with an email client here, and a chatting client there. A collaboration tool over here and a calender tool over there. There’s an app for everything.
I now send all of my 5 email addresses to my Gmail account. There they are automatically tagged, and Google’s unbeatable spam filtering takes care of the rest. Archiving and tagging is super simple and I will probably never have to worry about filling the available free space they give.
As mentioned before, all of my RSS feeds either go to email or to my Google Reader. Simple.
I have a chat client called Adium (I’m a Mac user for work, and I don’t think this is available for PC) which has all my chats in one place. MSN, yahoo, AIM, Facebook, and Google Talk. There is a similar one for PC called Trillian, although I’ve heard it has it’s own set of issues.
Closing
In closing, I’d like to warn you about this era of information. The internet is such a powerful tool for building knowledge if you know how to filter out the bombardment of people that want your money and time. Both are valuable, so set up some barriers that work for you. Choose to use this internet thing to it’s greatest benefit.
Flight simulation is not immune to this issue. There are a plethora of news sites out there. There are very few resources, not related to news, that are free and relevant like great blogs (News is always free, so that doesn’t count).
When you find companies that are giving away bits of what they do for free, taking care of their customers by staying connected, and understanding that you don’t need another banner ad to take your focus, you’ve found someone special. Trust them a bit, but don’t let your guard down until they prove their worth.
I know this post was lengthy, but I know there are a few things you learned that could help you out in the future.
In the comments, I can expand on anything that you want to know.
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