There is one single skill that is and will be the most important for the 21st century. That is the ability to wade through information and filter out the irrelevant.
It is now common knowledge that the amount of info out there is growing at some ungodly rate. Most of it is trash. The vast majority of what is not trash is wholly irrelevant to anything you will ever do.
So I propose a simple test that you can conduct before you make a request for information. That is, before you type in a web address, click a bookmark, or fill out a search box, ask yourself the following questions:
How will this information help me? Why do I want this information?
Will it help you complete the project you are working on? Will it help you make an important decision? Will it provide context? Will it entertain you?
I think you will find that most often, the answer is “none of the above.” The information you are seeking will distract you, discourage you, and stress you out. You will find that what you are presumably doing for entertainment you are actually doing out of impulse. And rather than provide stress relief, it’s making you more stressed out by distracting you from your real work.
If you are interested in reading more about the intersection of information, work, and health, you may enjoy Seth Godin’s Linchpin. I particularly enjoyed the chapter The Resistance.
