Managing Information Overload

Now that the semester is over, I'm trying to catch up on the reading I pushed to the side while grading and preparing for all of the end of the year activities.  I have a stack of journals and magazines, a bagillion items in my RSS reader, and a few books I want to peruse.  With all of the changes in the information technology field I am obligated to stay current and this requires a lot of reading.

I am trying to develop a strategy to manage the information I review so that I can read what is important to me, be aware of industry trends outside of my direct interests, and have the ability to recall or re-find the information I come across.  This is a familiar struggle and one that I continue to try to overcome.

I am beginning this endeavor by first defining my immediate areas of interest and limiting the articles/feeds/books to this area.  Topics outside of my area of research and interests will be simply visually scanned so that I can be aware of the current trends and issues.  In order to increase my ability to recall or rediscover the information I gain from my readings I will continue to take notes or capture articles in my Evernote account to make sure I have the ability to search and find these articles or notes in the future.

The amount of information available to us is both overwhelming and exciting.  We just need to develop a strategy to filter this information so we can both narrow our expertise and broaden our awareness.