Info. Overload

The last few weeks I've been thinking a lot about this information overload culture in which we live. I've been thinking about how much information I ingest on a daily basis and how this jives with the kind of Christian man, husband, dad, friend, and pastor I'm called to be. My thoughts aren't fully formulated yet, but suffice it to say that I'm wanting to be more discerning about how I navigate our online, always connected world.The last few weeks I've adopted a few new habits that are already serving me well:-turning off my email audio ping-checking email less often-waiting until noon to check email (I'm inconsistent with this one, but I'm diggin' it for the most part)-reading fewer blogs-reading blogs less often-multitasking less often-repenting of my addiction to want to know more "stuff," even good Christian stuff, instead of being disciplined about applying the stuff I already know-devoting more of my time to connecting with people in person and less of my time to connecting with people via email and online-returning to one of my favorite things to do: talking to strangers as often as possibleI was glad to see that Joe Thorn is thinking some similar thoughts. Below is a brief excerpt from this great post of his.

"I am unplugging. I’m not talking about “living off the grid,”throwing out the computer, shutting down my blog, or canceling ourinternet service. I simply mean that I am unplugging from the web 2.0,instant communication, virtual world more frequently. I thinktechnology is a good thing, and the internet is a tremendous resource,but I have been living a life of tech-dependence for the past few yearsthat has limited my engagement and enjoyment of family, ministry andlife. In fact, it is fair to say that I have been very uncomfortable ifI cannot check my email/have my phone with me wherever I am, and thatis a form of bondage fro which I must escape."