Two strategies are becoming favorites for dealing with the information firehose – that feeling that I’m missing something important in the high-pressure stream. One comes from former colleague Jack Vinson, whose post from a year ago suggests that we just reframe the issue. If you are trying to take it all in, you’re probably sunk. But if you have a question in mind – something specific you are thinking about or looking for – you tend to find stuff.
Strategy two is just to enjoy the stream and jump in when your eye catches something of interest. For me, it seems to be a cleverly worded post headline – something that suggests an interesting personality behind the post. Or sometimes just a hint of a topic that is intriguing. Or a point of view that differs from mine (this one is one which I am training myself to pay more attention to).
But either way, the two strategies work in the sense that they dial down the stress that I am missing something. Of course I am missing something. Some people, I am sure, capture much more than I do. I’ve just become satisfied with working a bit at a time, improving from my own baseline, and enjoying the new stuff I do discover.
Jeff Merrell 
“intuitively navigating chaos” is another I’ve come across… working on it, not altogether successfully (shrug)
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Thanks Vanessa. Great phrase that – intuitively navigating chaos. There is something inviting about allowing yourself to just let the stream flow and pay attention to whatever intuition tells you might be interesting.
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Thanks for posting your personal process. It is helpful to hear how others approach the wave of information and participation.
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Been interesting following the conversation around this whole topic. I am now becoming much more aware of the power of questions in this scenario, thanks to you and Stacy.
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