Healthier Information using - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Healthier Information

using "Quantified Self” methods to address Information Anxiety

Tim McCormickHighWire | Stanford University@mccormicktim / tim@tjm.org QS Show & Tell, March 28, 2012Google West Campus 5, Mountain View, CA

DRAFTSlide2

My QS investigation:

1. Examine

every media source and signal in my life.2. Measure how much of my attention it gets.3. Consider whether it gets the right amount of my attention (based on my priorities and values).

4.

Shift attention to the higher-value signals.

5. Build, Measure, Learn. Repeat. Slide3

First, kill all

the Alertsthose red numbers are anxiety-inducing

(by design) Try turning them off wherever possible, and see if you actuallymiss anything. Slide4

Intervention #2:

Tim's Lower-Anxiety Gmail

1. Soothing color palette2. G+ notifications disabled3. "Important" folder on top. Only 10 mails in last 4 days4. Personal

&

work mail managed, prioritized

in

1 place

.. but most importantly,

shut it off

for 2-4 hours at a time to focus!Slide5

Results of my media analysis:

[insert chart here: my graph of assessed media / signal-source benefit vs. efficiency = value. Television, radio, newspapers, Web sites, movies, telephone conversation, face-to-face conversation, email, Google Reader / RSS, Twitter, etc. Next page: highlight upper right quadrant: label – “shift attention to the high-value signals”

Metric: value per second of attention paid Slide6

The Problem of Information Anxiety

Richard Saul Wurman,1989Slide7

Information work

often = plate-spinningAll the plates

must be keptspinningYou might getin the flow -- but are you inthe right game? Slide8

Good Information &

Good Health"X Prize Foundation Offers $10 Million For a Tricorder

to Diagnose Patients"(May 2011)I work on "Tricorders" for your information diet: diagnose and address your knowledge state. Slide9

Clay Johnson, The Information Diet2012Slide10

Information Habits Impact

HealthBetter information

allows better health decisionsHigher productivity gives you better job options. If managed well, can help you achieve work-life balance. Greater mindfulness lowers stress, helps prioritization, aids job satisfaction and task completion. Slide11

Example #2:

Google Reader, a primary news information channel for me. Also, an example of information signals gone wrong[insert images showing interface with unread story count, “deprecated folder”].Story of “deprecating” sources to cut down information intake, but it backfires. Now I always go to these sources first to cut down the “unread” count faster. => Google Reader’s signals / quantification leads me to exactly the wrong behavior. Powerful, even when I’m aware of the problem. Slide12

Example #3:

“Value per second of attention” turns out tobe a very helpful analysis in my work also: developing tools / products for readers & researchers, at Stanford HighWire Press. Example: new journal,

Bone & Joint 360.motto: “6 issues/year, 60 minutes to read each” [screenshot, non-painful slide design here]Slide13

Business maxim: "Organize Around Priorities”

(from Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) Slide14

Business maxim: "Organize Around

Priorities”(from Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) => Informational version: Organize your Signals to Serve your PrioritiesSlide15

The Buddha: "Pain is inevitable, but suffering is a choice."Slide16

The Buddha: "Pain is inevitable, but

suffering is a choice."Today: "Connection is inevitable but distraction is a choice." (Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, ContemplativeComputing.org). Slide17

Thank You.

Questions?

Tim McCormickHighWire | Stanford University@mccormicktim / tim@tjm.org, QS Show & Tell, March 28, 2012