Hi, I’m Anna Keane.  I’m 25.  I live with the man of my dreams and our stuffed monkey.  For fun and the love of money, I work randomly at “the restaurant.”  The rest of the time I clean, eat grilled cheese sandwiches, and rearrange furniture.

I thought of this after going on Digg [a site where people discover, share, and vote on content from all over the web] and thinking about the people there who [vote] on hundreds of stories and go there all day [...] Surely no one in the world needs to read hundreds of articles a day […]

We are information crazy:  newspapers, magazines, books, TV, the web.  We consume too little of value and too much overall. 

Like food, information generates strength, happiness, health, and growth.  But more isn’t better, especially if your daily consumption is a 1.89L tub of cappuccino chocolate brownie crunch ice cream.

Manage information overload, and reclaim personal productivity and effectiveness, by eating well.  Consume only information that is relevant to your goals, and be seriously selective.  In The 4-Hour Workweek, Timothy Ferris suggests you:

Develop the habit of asking yourself [sic] “Will I definitely use this information for something immediate and important?”

Information is useless if it is not applied to something important or if you will forget it before you have a chance to apply it.

Look at your information intake and start eliminating.

News sites, feeds, blogs, papers, and magazines.  Reflect on the news stories you read and watch.  How many are positive and relevant to your goals?  Purge Newsweek; you are still smart and liberal.

News shows.  Once upon a time, TV was a fast and effective way to discover and share information.  Now we have the web (overloaded but customizable).  How much of the noon news hour is relevant to you, your goals, your life?  Watch TV for entertainment, relaxation, or pleasure.  Scan headlines for the news.

Junk mail.  Don’t just delete.  Unsubscribe, mark as junk, and turn off Facebook notifications.

Instead of wasting three hours every day reading news feeds, reading the paper, and watching the news hour, scan the headlines as you walk by the paper boxes and ask a friend if anything blew up (five minutes, done). 

Consume only information relevant to your immediate and important personal goals.  Do the same at work. 

Information is not knowledge. 

Actionable, relevant information is knowledge.

Get involved.  Leave comments.  Give advice.  Ask for advice.

I got up early, made tea, did dishes, and planned to plan after lunch.

 J was watching the highlights and our apartment was as clean as I could justify.  I had given up on planning (my new plan was to plan on Monday), so I picked up The Greatness Guide, Book 2.  Robin writes:

[G]ive yourself a gift:  Take out a nice, crisp white sheet of paper.  Sharpen a pencil.  And then start writing about the work and home you desire to create.  It’s a lot easier than you may think.  And the results will stun you.

Fine, Robin, you win.

Back at my desk, I find an old post by Craig Harper, kicking off his 28-day ”Inaugural Get-Yer-Shit-Together Challenge.”

Here’s me getting my shit together:

The start date is [Monday March 30 2009]. I’m not procrastinating; some of you won’t read this before Monday and I want you all to follow along (OK, I’m procrastinating, but only because I’m terrified that I’ll fail the challenge and you’ll think I’m stupid). 

Identify what needs to change in your life. I need to focus my energy.  I need a plan that will help me discover and live my life’s purpose.  I need to stop wasting three hours a day searching job boards (and making up reasons not to apply for any jobs) and applying for jobs (that I don’t really want).

I am now supposed to ask you to “kick my ass, keep me honest, and encourage me through the next four weeks.”  I’m asking. 

Set some specific goals. Crap.  OK.  My goals are to:

 Determine, and commit to paper (the screen), my dream job. 
 Determine, and commit to paper (the screen), my next steps.
Create a self-hosted “me” website.  A get-work website. 
Produce writing samples relevant to the type of work I want.

Write NO MORE THAN 200 words to tell [everyone] what I am going to achieve over the next 28 days:

Over the next 28 days, I am going to put two things on paper:  my dream job and my next steps.  I will create a self-hosted “me” website; I will include relevant work samples.  I will have a new computer and an office space set up for success.  28 days from Monday, I will not be looking for a job. 

Every Monday (for four weeks) you will post a progress report.  I will.  Check in to see how I’m going, encourage me, support me, and tell me to get my shit together. 

What’s your plan?  Post it so we can keep you honest.

Get involved. Leave comments. Give advice. Ask for advice.