Nate Baker and Chip Hayner present at Barcamp Nashville 2010.

1. BARCAMP NASHVILLE 2010
INFORMATION OVERLOAD
Why and how you should filter out noise to
unearth relevant and meaningful information
#bcn10overload

2. WHO WE ARE
Nate Baker
Director of Technical Support
SiteMason
@nathanTbaker
Chip Hayner
Director of Production
Centresource Interactive Agency
@chayner
#bcn10overload

3. IT'S NOT A PARTY TILL IT HAS
A HASHTAG
Feel free to discuss, share links,
and ask questions using the hashtag: #bcn10overload
Ex: "By the beards of Nate and Chip! Do you feel that surge
of knowledge in the room? #bcn10overload"
We'll preemptively answer one FAQ:
Yes, our beards are awesome.
They help establish our credibility.
And no, it's not just facial hair, it's a lifestyle.
Next.
#bcn10overload

4. THE STREAM OF INFORMATION
#bcn10overload

5. WHY IS INFORMATION
OVERLOAD BAD?
How much information do you
really need?
The truly important information
can get lost
Too much information at once can become indigestible
and can freeze you.
You’re less interesting when your cultural lens runs as
deep as a day. Get off Twitter and read a book.
#bcn10overload

6. DEEPER WAYS TO THINK ABOUT
INFORMATION OVERLOAD
from 5 people smarter than you

7. DEEPER WAYS TO THINK ABOUT
INFORMATION OVERLOAD
Neil Postman
What we needed to know about cars
—as we need to know about
computers, television, and other
technology—is not how to use them,
but how they use us.
Via “End of Education”
#bcn10overload

8. DEEPER WAYS TO THINK ABOUT
INFORMATION OVERLOAD
37Signals
Recognize and combat barriers
to efficiency in the traditional
workplace
Minimize interruptions
Meetings are toxic
#bcn10overload

9. DEEPER WAYS TO THINK ABOUT
INFORMATION OVERLOAD
Chris Anderson
“Inventory is 'non-rivolrous' on the Web and
the ratio of good to bad is simply a signal-to-
noise problem, solvable with information
tools. Which is to say it’s not much of a
problem at all.You just need better filters.
In other words, the noise is still
out there, but Google allows
you to effectively ignore it.
Filters rule!”
Via “The Long Tail”
#bcn10overload

10. DEEPER WAYS TO THINK ABOUT
INFORMATION OVERLOAD
David Allen
Your mind is not an efficient
storage device. There are better
places to put information.
Is what you are doing right now
tied to one of your goals?
(website project, loving people,
re-energizing...)
#bcn10overload

11. DEEPER WAYS TO THINK ABOUT
INFORMATION OVERLOAD
Merlin Mann
You should eventually get to the point
where your productivity system is like
your coffee cup and you're
thinking much more about
drinking the coffee out of
it rather than the cup itself.
Via “43 Folders Podcast”
#bcn10overload

12. DEEPER WAYS TO THINK ABOUT
INFORMATION OVERLOAD
Don't worry...
We'll be posting links
and recommending reading online:
NateNews.com/bcn10
#bcn10overload

13. FULLY
TURNING OFF THE SPIGOT
...and how you can still survive!

14. TURNING OFF THE SPIGOT
Tech fasting!
Why you would turn off a technology?
Understand a technology's
positive and negative affects.
Create time to explore other
technologies or to focus on
meaningful things.
Learn from experimentation and see things
from a different angle.
#bcn10overload

15. TURNING OFF THE SPIGOT
How to Tech Fast: Examples:
1. Select a Technology I'll turn my phone off
2. Define the fast during meals on the
3. Set the frequency weekend.
I'll not use Facebook and
Twitter outside of work
Do it. I dare you! for the first week of every
Get started at TechFasting.com. month.
#bcn10overload

16. TURNING OFF THE SPIGOT
Never forget that being away
from things often gives you
the energy to do the thing
you’re taking a break from.
#bcn10overload

17. SLOWLY TURNING
THE SPIGOT BACK ON...
Being highly efficient with information
consumption while keeping a life / work balance

18. SLOWLY TURNING THE
SPIGOT BACK ON
Set aside “time zones” for different activities
Develop processes and strategies around
receiving thoughtful / filtered information
Create filters so the information you
consume is the information you care about
#bcn10overload

19. PRACTICAL APPLICATION
Processes and Strategies

20. PRACTICAL APPLICATION
TWITTER / FACEBOOK: LISTS
Lists help organize and filter your streams
Categorize by people group or topic
Focuses reading to reduce “stream schizophrenia”
Examples:
Coworkers / Family / High School Friends
Sports Feeds / News Feeds / Marketing Gurus
#bcn10overload

21. PRACTICAL APPLICATION
TWITTER / FACEBOOK: TEXT NOTIFICATIONS
Send your “always read” posts to your phone.
Reduces the need to have streams constantly open
Depending on your phone settings, you could
“collect” these texts until you have a chance to read
them, or just read them as they come.
Note: Unlimited texting plans help!
#bcn10overload

22. PRACTICAL APPLICATION
EMAIL INBOX: BACN FOLDER
"Bacn" is better than spam,
but not as good as a personal email.
(Via PodCamp Pittsburgh, 2007)
Create a "bacn" email filter for email
you want but not right now: your
social media notifications,
newsletters, and Google alerts...
#bcn10overload

23. VOLUNTEER ACTIVITY
Anyone willing to help out quickly?

24. PRACTICAL APPLICATION
EMAIL INBOX: SUPERNICK / PRIORITY INBOX
http://chip.mx/supernick
Limit the amount that you
view your inbox
Prioritize / filter emails
based on importance and
response required
Original Post:
Have separate views for http://chip.mx/supernick-slides
each priority level
#bcn10overload

25. PRACTICAL APPLICATION
GOOGLE READER
Setup:
Find blogs that interest you, but don’t overlap too
much in content
Categorize blogs based on topic
Set to “list view”
#bcn10overload

26. PRACTICAL APPLICATION
GOOGLE READER
Scanning:
Scan headlines for interesting posts, previewing
items to see if they’re short enough to read quickly
Star items that can’t be read quickly
“Mark all as Read” (Shift-A)
#bcn10overload

27. PRACTICAL APPLICATION
GOOGLE READER
Reading:
Go to your starred items
Read all items, moving through items with [j] (next)
and [k] (previous)
When finished, you can unstar [s], share [shift-s],
add a note [shift-n], or send it somewhere (Twitter,
Facebook, Tumblr, Email, etc) [shift-t]
#bcn10overload

28. PRACTICAL APPLICATION
GOOGLE READER: ADD-ON APPLICATIONS
Reeder (iOS Devices)
$2.99 iPhone / $4.99 iPad
Syncs with Google Reader
Fast “swipe to star”
Easily share, send to Twitter, etc
#bcn10overload

29. PRACTICAL APPLICATION
GOOGLE READER: ADD-ON APPLICATIONS
Instapaper (Web, iOS, Kindle)
FREE / $4.99 “Pro” App
Greatly simplifies reading
environment by removing
ads, etc.
Syncs for offline reading
(great for iPads on flights)
Integration with many apps
NORMAL INSTAPAPER
#bcn10overload

30. YOU’VE GOT
QUESTIONS?
(We’ve got answers...)

31. CONTACT US!
Nate Baker: @nathanTbaker
Chip Hayner: @chayner
Presentation Slides and Notes:
NateNews.com/bcn10
#bcn10overload