Sorting through all that information

One of my favourite bloggers recently wrote about gen Y being the generation of information synthesisers. She wrote that rather than being overwhelmed with information, the gen Y'er is able to take in a lot of information sources at the same time, multitask, focus on what's important and let the rest go. That's the function of an active, curious mind. It's someone who has a clear framework to search for and absorb information, sort through what's valuable and discard the rest. Penelope Trunk's blog (http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/) gets my brain going.

Her blog reminds me of a book I read in the 80's The Big Generation, Here they come...seven million Canadians are changing the face of the nation, by John Kettle. He predicted an economy based on information 30 years ago. He wrote that unless people found some way to participate in that economy, they would be left behind, become isolated and bored. John Kettle didn't say too much about the technology that would help bring in the information, sort it, organize it, and discard what was too much or not interesting. Being skilled in using technology is one key to managing the information out there. The other is having the wisdom to discern what's useful and what's not. That's the challenge for gen X and Y and the BIG generation, as John Kettle called boomers.

There is a lot of information out there for job seekers. In fact so much, that one can easily spend the entire day looking at information about jobs. The search itself can become the raison d'etre rather than the means to an end. It's easy, safe and can be pretty comfortable searching the web all day. The challenge is to take it to the next level. Do something with the information. Apply your personal filters so it becomes helpful to you. Take action!

My filters come from what I know about myself, my skills and interests and experience. I depend on my interactions with friends and colleagues, other bloggers and writers to stimulate my thinking, help me focus and test out my strengths. My blog helps me formulate my thoughts and keeps me accountable. On a deeper spiritual level, I frame my search in the form of a question, God, where do you want to use me? What are your filters?