I loved reading – and discussing – digital overload and digital diets, as described by Daniel Sieberg in the Washington Post this weekend. Excerpts and ideas from his book, The Digital Diet: The 4-Step Plan to Break Your Tech Addiction and Regain Balance in Your Life, hit close to home, and I think each of these discussions is a good reminder for those of us who have multiple gadgets and social media networks, things to say (and ways to say it) in our lives.
What the article reminded me was that discipline — and focus — is at the heart of appropriately and effectively making social media and technology a part of your life.
I have a work colleague whom I admire greatly for his ability to network in a way that I like to call “elegantly techy.” When there is a meeting, he is 100% in that meeting (not dabbling with the blackberry or iPhone that he, like all of us in the meeting, have within reach). When he connects, he does so with gusto. He doesn’t mind the blending of his online and offline worlds. I have even seen him — within the space of just a few minutes — crowdsource restaurant info for an intimate evening out with his wife or help catazlyze a discussion among hundreds of people on a major political issue by harnessing the power of social media. But I know that he’s not doing it while missing a bus stop (like I have) or walking into the wrong airport gate (which I have) or while walking into the bathroom (which I have — admit it, so have you!). He tweets with the best of them, posts and tags and connects and discusses…but it doesn’t seem to get in the way of his human side. I watch him carefully, and want to emulate that kind of interaction.
So, unlike calorie counting, I welcome discussion of a digital diet. Let me know if you’ve completed a technology inventory like the one in the Post or if you have felt the need to right-size your social media-ness. It’s a part of my life and we all could use help to feast in the best way possible