I like your comment about good & bad media. Case in point, my 7 year old correctly identified an ocean abyss recently. Since he is an avid reader of nature books and loves fish and ocean subjects, I assumed he read it in a book. When I asked him where he learned about abysses, his rely was "Spongebob". There are nuggets of knowledge everywhere, I guess.

I was kind of stunned at the date on one of those posts you linked to – the four ways to make more time. 2003. You've been at this a long time.

When people tell me they don't have time to read blogs, I am immediately annoyed and dismiss them as laggards. I also think they are scaredy cats who prove they are most comfortable with an ineffective status quo. Kind of like Communist loyalists. hahahaha!

My sentiments exactly.

I couldn't agree more with this post on all three points.

I was just having a conversation just an hour ago about Twitter and how people and businesses are using it, etc. A lot of people say they do not "get" twitter but yet do not invest anytime to see what it is all about.

At work we just added a new employee to the team and i think what sealed the deal (for me) was that she said she reads lots of blogs in her spare time.

Thank you! I have been bellowing a similar message for as long as I can remember. "I'm too busy" means "That's not important" and it's perfectly OK to say that. "I'm too busy" is an excuse that carries with it an martydom I find particularly tiresome. It's also about as disempowering thought as there is. Thank you again for this post.

Yeah. I love blogs. I loved newspapers too, but am kind of over them except the NY Times in order to breathe the intellectual air. I never loved TV.

I agree on priorities. We make time for the things that are important.

But I disagree on the ability of Gen Y (or others) on multitasking. They may be able to process all those streams at once, but my gut tells me they do it poorly: low retention, low critical thinking.

I believe in focused learning, focused attention. Don't believe me? Talk to your spouse or significant other sometime while they're fiddling with their Blackberry.

As a Y who multi-tasks throughout the day, I have to say I disagree about having 'low retention, low critical thinking.'

As a strategic planning analyst, my job involves strategy and critical analysis. My primary research, insights, briefs, and reports aren't shallow or poorly-constructed. Often they go ahead without any edits or changes and provide direction for our internal teams and our largest clients. Luckily, I work in a place that encourages individual working styles as long as we produce high-quality work.

Using someone's wife trying to talk/Blackberry at the same time as proof that multi-tasking can't work is a cop-out. As I said in my own blog post (linking to this one), Ys are more adept at multi-tasking because it has be a necessity throughout our lives. That also means we multi-task differently.

I would never try to use a Blackberry and maintain a conversation with my spouse. That's just rude. Unlike previous generations, technology etiquette was a large part of our education. I wasn't allowed to use my Tamagotchi during class while I was in 3rd grade, so why would I try to type and talk on the phone at the same time now? Texting while someone was speaking or lecturing was banned by the time I got to high school. Face-to-face conversation or telecommunications are seldom combined with 'screen' technology use when Ys multi-task. It's a matter of understanding which tasks cannot handled in a rapid sequential or simultaneous fashion. When I attend conferences, I see Gen Xers and Boomers Twittering in clear view of speakers while my fellow Ys are either more discreet or shut of their mobile devices as soon as someone arrives at the podium. Many Ys don't bring mobile devices into meetings because we were raised to know that typing while someone is speaking to you is rude.

So what does multi-tasking look like for me?

Answering emails ASAP, while providing sufficient time to think about and edit down my replies (part of showing someone that you value their request for your input or assistance.)

Reading through my RSS feed, as the most recent information and news can inform everything else I'm working on. While I still stick to printed publications and studies for in-depth reporting and data, the value of online publishing is in its speed. Most of the feeds I get contain information that is exponentially more valuable to me when it first appears as it would be a day or three later.

Writing a creative brief, which is a zillion times easier when I've done so much research in advance. Thanks to my catalog of bookmarks and clippings in Evernote and constant RSS-reading, I can get right into solving a problem and thinking strategically instead of starting with more basic questions like, how does our target feel about buying x product during this economy? Thanks to my ongoing information processing/gathering, I'm already on my way, and have the 5 best articles and 3 best research reports (as of 5 minutes ago) on hand that I can re-read and reference as support for my insights. Writing the actual brief is a process that starts long before I type my first sentence, so when it comes time to actually put it all on paper it never takes longer than a couple of hours.

Posting on my own blog is like a reward for getting things done quickly. It also helps me clarify my ideas about broader trends and how I can be a better employee.

I just described a typical morning at my desk. Today, I've read 250 RSS entries, written a blog entry, written a brief, researched new ways to house information on our server to ease sharing between colleagues (an ongoing project) and archived research relevant to multiple accounts I work on for a later date. And I'm confident I've performed all of those tasks to the best of my ability. Advertising is highly competitive: if my work weren't up to snuff, I'd have been let go a long time ago.

I hope that sheds some light on the differences in how Ys multi-task, and why it can be an effective and productive work style.

This might be true for you but I see a lot of Gen Y people tweeting during conference sessions. It's not just Gen X or Baby Boomers at all (though Gen X are heavier Twitter users overall).

:Guess what? Generation Y never talks about information overload. That’s because they k now how to process information better than anyone else. "

Generation based stereotypes often have a grain of truth, but frequently fall apart on individual cases.

I can't tell you how many Gen Y types I personally know who do nothing more than bitch daily about information overload. And I can't tell you how often my Gen Y ex-girlfriend used to complain about my multitasking, she focuses on one thing at a time, intensely, finishes it, and moves on to another thing… after I've checked my email, blogged, researched different things in 5 different firefox windows with 6 tabs open in each, and so on..

In truth both of our styles are effective – for us. I can see the value of her approach, she deals with things in intense focused depth. We both arrive at our destinations, but her lack of multi-tasking sometimes yields better results than my intense multitasking, at other times not.

The most adept multi-tasker I know is a 55 year old serial entrepreneur. He multi-tasks far better than I do. Lest you think he's an exception, most of the other effective multi-taskers I know are in their late 30's early 40's. Of course, most of these guys are long time IT guys, things might be different for the general population.

Generation stereotypes are really only useful in narrow ranges. I really do not buy the "Gen Y multi-tasks better than Gen X" yarn, because it flies in the face of my personal experience. I'm, of course, open to experiences that contradict this. I also don't see multi-tasking as an absolute value. There is certainly a time for intense obsessive long term focus, and a time for diverse multi-tasking. The skill is knowing which is which, and being able to have the flexibility to switch work styles when needed. Someone lacking this flexibility is simply just a one trick pony, irrespective of their generation.

Lastly I read blogs intensely, I follow about 50 a week. But I have the sense to realize the immense value of print materials. If I were in a hiring position and was faced with a choice between someone highly adept at navigating the blogosphere, and someone who reads multiple major newspapers and magazines, knows her way around a public library’s print resources, but really wasn’t into blogs, frankly depending on the nature of the candidate’s duties, I would probably reluctantly choose the later. I say reluctantly because I’d rather have a candidate with the common sense to realize what can be found with ease on-line, and what needs to be winnowed out of print media. Both are highly useful, and again, mastering one and not the other makes one into a one trick pony.

Nice post, Penelope. I like your frankness and candor, but I think that you are being a little naive. To assume that someone like say, Ryan Seacrest: a guy that has a million different jobs, has the same amount of time to read blogs in his day as me: a research editor sitting in front of a computer all day is not really correct.

As part of this generation Y that you speak of, I get most of my news and information from blogs, facebook, twitter etc, but it's up to YOU as the blogger to MAKE your blog worth my time. There are millions of blogs covering topics that I am interested in every day, so keep producing interesting and provocative work, and people will have no excuse at all not to be reading.

I love that this post seems to have so much energy behind it!

I admit I go through phases of "I can't do everything", but this post just re-invigorated me to tackle all those things I think I don't have time for.

PT: this post was like instant coffee – but it tasted better.

Best post in a while!
I concur on all points…Time needs to be used not saved, need to remember that…
thx,
M

How True! It used to be possible to fudge your way to being interesting at cocktail parties…name drop, make your job sound extra complicated, done. But now, those conversations are elevated…because there are more ideas to discuss and people can expose themselves to all kinds of information (not literally though, that can get you kicked out of the cocktail party)

It's no longer a case of "whoever has the most elite business card or the fanciest degree wins." Those who relied on that kind of atmosphere to socialize and network now have to put more effort into being interesting. That takes work. Work takes time. Hence, they don't have time to read blogs means they don't want to do the work to be interesting, they'd prefer to deride the entire medium and hope people stop talking about what they read on a great blog

For the most part I agree with you. We make time for what's important to us – it's about priorities, not how many hours are in a day.

I think the idea that "gen Y" (whatever the hell that means outside of the world of marketing) manages their media better than others is unmitigated bullshit though. The average blogger age is 37.6, which puts them pretty firmly in gen X.

It's no longer a case of "whoever has the most elite business card or the fanciest degree wins."

Thank you for a brilliant and highly accurate article. My riposte has always been to the effect that people have the time to do the things they want to do. That's telling, but I suspect it's true 95% of the time. Oh yeah, I read what I want to read and always make time to do it. Admittedly, I am a bibliophile, but it goes a long way toward keeping a person vital.

Some people like to throw the "I'm busy" line out to prove that they're "important." Others say that because they really aren't all that interested in learning about it … or anything, it seems sometimes.

Whatever a person considers important, however, is where they'll put his/her energy.

That said, my middle-aged brain (and memory) has made it so much harder for me!

Still, if we only read the blogs/mags/newspapers, etc., with which we share the same opinion, we're not going to learn very much or grow as people.

I completely agree with your comment about maintaining a reading list with different points of view. One danger of filling an RSS feed with blogs and news outlets that only reflect our own opinions is missing out on differing perspectives.

And as for middle-aged brain/memory, I hear ya. I have the most admiration and respect for Boomers/Xers who have adjusted to a changed model for mass communication. They are the most valuable employees of all, with their experience providing a perspective on current technologies that no amount of tech-savvy alone can match.

I'm a recent fan of your blog. I realize the effort you are putting into linking back to your past articles is working very well… on me at least. Each time I read your post, I ended up with several others to go through as well.

Just like to thank you for the great work and useful advice you have over here! Rock on!

Great article, and I totally agree. I think you gain a more well rounded opinion by checking out multiple blogs, cross checking facts and seeing the varied opinions. In my case it makes me kick ass at Jeopardy :). Whoever says they "don't have time for blogs" is just a troglodyte…

I will add that there is a lot of cultural pressure to be busy. When was the last time someone didn't answer the question, "How are you?" with some response that included the word 'busy'? It is heresy to say you're not soooo busy, which I find sad – because I'd rather be happy than busy. But in our society, only losers aren't busy – too busy to do what they claim they really want to do with their own time. We all have only one life (I think)….

I completely agree with this. I think part of the problem is that lots of organizations aren't rewarding efficiency. Taking a break is frowned upon. Even when effective multi-tasking or time management leads a worker to produce great results in half the time, they're expected to keep on going for the sake of looking as busy as the worker next to them who's working at a slower pace. The difference is that the more productive worker needs breaks to prevent burnout. If I were an employer, I'd let anyone who finished their tasks leave early as long as they produced excellent work and didn't have a good reason to stay at their desk.

I have no time to read anything because I'm too busy reading everything you link in your posts! Kidding, but only kind of.

This was a truly great post. My mom is a teacher and noticed the change in how Generation Y processes information when we hit her elementary school classes. She says our brains just work differently. As you said, it is no longer about having the most information, it is about being able to synthesize the relevant parts and get out from under the rest.

I'd work for you any day, because clearly you get it.

I'm not sure what your problem is with the "I'm busy" line, but in my case, it is polite code for "that's not much of a priority for me". I have two primary and competing functions in my current position. I tell people that Task A takes up about 75% of my time, while Task B takes up another 75%, leaving whatever is left over for everything else. Quite frankly, I'm surprised I still find the time to read this blog. You have, at times, very cogent and interesting thoughts – the rest of the time is a soap opera – Desperate Housewife & CEO of Podunk, MI (or where ever it is you are – Madison I think?) As far as prioritizing goes, I'm quickly finding that I have to skim your posts to figure out if they are going to be worthwhile, or if they are another story about farmers, money woes, blowjobs, or your generally crazy life. If the current trend continues, at some point I will have to decide I'm too busy to do this filtering and give up on you entirely. That'd be a shame.

Dave, I sort of agree with you, though you have to commend Penelope for writing one post without referencing her

a. oral sex life
b. cash crunch
c. guilt about her kids
d. other miscellaneous [b]non-career [/b]issues

That said, most people who read blogs (and who take out time to read blogs) are going to agree with everything that is written here. After all, it praises people who spend time on blogs. Come on people, reading blogs can't be the most productive use of your time, if you read them for more than 20-30 minutes a day!

Therefore, there are very few readers here who will disagree with the post in general or bring in a conflicting opinion, like you have. But I cannot imagine a person working 16 hours a day, and just about squeezing in time for a workout and a social life, choosing to read blogs over reading a good book (and there are many).

Especially, this entertainment chutzpah blog masquerading as career advice.

Her posts are more likely to be about cunnilingus than blowjobs. But anyway. The things you say detract from the worthiness of her blog are the same things that make her fun to read, for me, and I think she maintains a good ratio between personal melodrama and interesting advice. I'd think it likely that a lot of her readership agrees.

Of course you are entitled to your opinion, I'm just voicing the counterpoint because I would hate for her to lend too much weight to your own and make some sort of change.

When I first hit upon this blog, I liked it so much that I recommended it to many younger kids I mentored. Over the past 6 months I've seen it deteriorate from a career-centric blog, to an 'I, me, myself' blog. That may be good trivial entertainment, but it is certainly not the great career advice that many of us had started here with.

OMG, Bless you my child for saying this. If I had a dollar for everytime I hear somebody at my job say this, I would be a millionaire many times over. You make time for the things you think are important. It doesn't take a million hours to read a few blogs in your feed reader. Perhaps if you didn't spend 5 hours at your desk everyday arranging a powerpoint in 50 different ways, checking your email repeatedly, or cleaning out your computer folders you would have time for some important crap.

I give this post my blessing! :)

I am both in agreement with and annoyed by this post today. I do find that people who backhandedly dismiss blogs are pretty much pointless to deal with. The same with those who dismiss Twitter without ever having even seen it, assuming it's only people "talking about what they ate for lunch." (I was shocked in a meeting recently to listen to a group of my coworkers, nearly all younger than me (I am 36,) talking about Twitter like this – of them, only one had anything positive to say about Twitter.)

That said, I find that GenY is over generalized as so productive and good at multitasking. If anything, I find many of them particularly difficult to get anything of substance out of, probably because, being so multitask-oriented, they don't really know how to do one thing really, really well, but do many things with passing abilities.

Not to mention that I think this is a generation that is going to find itself crashing, hard, in a few years time, when they burn out from overextending themselves. Maybe us "older" people are slower and less able to multitask, but we know our limits much better. I know how to rest. You know why I want to "save time"? So I can rest! I don't want to use my time more effectively so I can get more done, I want to use my time effectively so I can NOT DO MORE. That is the difference between me and GenY. I think anyone that looks for more ways to fit in more work is crazy, plain and simple. Not to get philosophical, but your one life here is not meant to be spent doing business-related tasks. Try and actually enjoy life.

I was wondering if you think there is a limit to our processing ability (even among Gen Y)? The internet is growing exponentially, and while Gen Y can manage the content more efficiently than older generations, Millennials cannot read much faster than 600-1000 words per minute.

Therefore as the amount of content on the web increases, so too would our desire to read more content because while the percentage of interesting content would stay the same, the total volume of interesting content would have grown. As the web continues to develop we will still only be able to read the content at the same rate, meaning that at some point we must run into some sort of limit or information overload.

Another question I wonder about is: do you think that Gen Y's ability to prevent overload by skimming over articles, posts, and subjects prevents them from delving deep enough to truly understand a particular subject?

I think this is an incredibly interesting issue, and I would love to hear anyone's thoughts.

"So focus on meeting your goals rather than saving time. Information is not something you have time for or don’t have time for. Information is either helping you meet your goals or not."
Absolutely! "I don't have time to…" is the preamble to self limitation either through disorganized thinking or..as you point out, perhaps perfectionism, which is just another way of saying "to scared to step up and step out".

It really all comes down to peoples prioroties. Simple.

I enjoyed the piece.

http://twitter.com/franswaa

Interesting article! I so agree with all you've said. I was at a party last Friday and 2 people at different times actually said "I don't have time for that." (one was Facebook and one was Twitter). And I wanted to correct them both that it's not a matter of having time, but a matter of making choices and setting priorities.

In the same vein, I have a friend who longs to go to England, but doesn't save or plan, just complains that she can't go. Now, she says, it's the economy. I pointed out that now is actually a good time to go with low cost incentives and a stronger dollar. But, she argues, she doesn't have money saved to go. Ah, that is a different story. Then the economy really isn't a factor, is it?

Easily the most true post I've read from anyone in a long time. THANK YOU for writing it!!!!

I've had this argument with people all the time about "finding time for all this" and I tell them that you make the choices with how you spend your time. I don't watch a lot of television, it is a choice.

We all have choices to make. You'll make time for the things that are truly important to you.

I do find that people who backhandedly dismiss blogs are pretty much pointless to deal with. The same with those who dismiss Twitter without ever having even seen it, assuming it's only people "talking about what they ate for lunch.(I was shocked in a meeting recently to listen to a group of my coworkers, nearly all younger than me (I am 36,) talking about Twitter like this

I find them just as pointless to deal with as people who backhandedly dismiss reading magazines and print newspapers.

All of which shows the facile inanity of making generalizations about an entire generation. I'm 34 and use social media more extensively than most 24 year olds in my social circle. Of course I had an email account in the 9th grade, when the Internet was still sometimes called Darpanet.. so I've had almost 20 years to practice and grow up with this stuff.

But the point still stands, while much of Gen Y finds new media to be second nature, many don't even have a facebook profile, and those who do tend to use social media to it's fuller potential are often older. In my informal observations the age set that seems most conversant with social media technology are between 28 and 36, give or take. Which makes sense, growing up with technology isn't as much the point as the maturity, intellect, and experience needed to twist technology into your service..

To understand and manipulate it's nuances. For example, a friend of mine who just turned 40 schooled me the other day in marketing techniques using twitter that hadn't even crossed my mind.

Ageism is stupid and prevents one from learning things of value from one's peers of a different age set, because one's blinders preventing the recognition that they actually, well, have anything of value to say.

That said, I find that GenY is over generalized as so productive and good at multitasking. If anything, I find many of them particularly difficult to get anything of substance out of, probably because, being so multitask-oriented, they don't really know how to do one thing really, really well, but do many things with passing abilities.

Oddly enough people were saying the same thing about Gen X a few years ago. There is a self imposed blindness young adults often have at first. I often enjoy giving Gen Y interns certain types of repetitive drudgework and research requiring a good deal of multi-tasking to get through.They were really great for that in spite of a tendency to avoid valuable print sources. They run like Hamsters, cough up reports chock full of information as well as massive typos. I put 30 min into cleaning them up, add and correlate in my own research, mostly gained from print sources, thank them for their valuable rough intelligence and info. They buzz like hamsters in wheels whilst I drink my coffee. They cough up tons of formatted information that I clean up and use for my own purposes.
Win/win it facilitates my more selective multitasking between things of more importance..

That said, and this is a generalization, my experiences with them in the workplace has often been a real lack of depth and substance, but impressive breadth. This is a generalization, many do not fit it. In all things it is good to see nuances and exceptions to general rules.

Not to mention that I think this is a generation that is going to find itself crashing, hard, in a few years time, when they burn out from overextending themselves. Maybe us "older" people are slower and less able to multitask, but we know our limits much better. I know how to rest. You know why I want to "save time"?

With all respect to the blog's owner (I've really enjoyed reading it in the 12 months or so I've discovered it) many posts are indicative of such a crash looming ahead. I had that crash myself at 32, lost a business, my fiance, many people close to me, in a meltdown… it ugly but I found a good deal of perspective and peace, and a certain zen like tranquility and realization of the merely relative importance of certain things, like say, careers.
One thing that I did learn was to stop sacrificing depth for breadth. Most adults learn this once they reach a certain stage of maturity, ideally without catastrophic crashes.

Anyway, "older" people often aren't that much slower to begin with. Those who seem most savvy with new media technologies, actually understanding them and able to use them PRODUCTIVELY are generally between about 25 and 35 or 36. With significant exceptions to the rule either way.

Penelope, STOP taking stuff so personally. Breathe. So people say they don't have time to read blogs – really – you have to counter an attack? And aren't they, too, entitled to their opinions? Sometimes it is okay to let stuff slide.

love this post for so many reasons. My favorite bit of advice: "So focus on meeting your goals rather than saving time. Information is not something you have time for or don’t have time for. Information is either helping you meet your goals or not."

I was a bookseller for 20+ years until the world moved on from that sort of information format. One thing I discovered was that the best booksellers were instinctively brilliant information synthesizers. They knew how good a book was just by test driving it (it's what most people do nowadays w/ RSS and blog reading — speed + smarts), they knew where to get information (resource knowhow), and when it came to sales, they knew when to shut up (a skill rarely practiced by any blogger).

Now information synthesizers are everywhere. Not everyone can do it, but some can do it brilliantly — and they don't even have to be booksellers.

I think this is progress.

I like your reference to information synthesizers being the future workers. This supports my theory of the Creation Age replacing the Knowledge Age. My theory is that knowledge is no longer power as web 2.0 participants share knowledge freely. The ability to create (or synthesize) knowledge is the new power.

-The Facetious CIO

Ha! I totally agree with everything, but it's funny because I've had this tab open since 9am waiting for 'time' to read it. It's now 5pm…

Love this quote – Information is not something you have time for or don’t have time for. Information is either helping you meet your goals or not.

This is why I read your blog! Great commentary on the fallacy of "not enough time" and importance of prioritizing your time/money/caring.

I think many people still don't understand what blogging has BECOME. It really started as something like mommy-blogging, but those who found no use for what they THINK it still is aren't curious enough to find out what may have changed. These days, saying you don't read blogs is akin to saying you don't read the news. True, overload can be a problem, so we all just pick and choose what we will read each day to stay informed.

@Lorraine: "True, overload can be a problem, so we all just pick and choose what we will read each day to stay informed."

In other words, you are too busy, you don't have time for everything? ;) Even if you use different words to say it, you are still saying you are too busy.

I like this part: "good time management is really about understanding your priorities." This is a great nugget that all working people–gen Y, x, boomer, man, woman–should heed.

The spin on this topic I hear all the time is, "I don't have time to work out." Who does? You have to make the time. As a working mother, I get up at 5 am, every day. It means I have to go to bed at 9, which severely limits my reading time, but hey, you've got to prioritize.

People who say "I don't have time to read blogs" are really saying, "I don't have time for people, activities, or ideas of questionable status."

A column in 200 papers equals status, whether the smart folk still read papers or not. It shows you have been vetted, faced the gatekeepers, and found worthy. It shows you produce tangible (=money) value for others, as well as for yourself.

That is still a meaningful distinction to the many busy, productive people who still have one foot in the pre-internet world – the world where commentary mattered more the more eyeballs it commanded.

Great post!

The wonderful thing about this country is that we have the opportunity to do so many different things.

It's just hard to acknowledge for myself that I made a choice of how I prioritize my time. Because I do want to do it all! But I must prioritize one thing over another and even though I am having fun doing the thing I chose, I still catch myself wistfully looking at all the things I missed.

Will

Wow, great article! I have been struggling with managing my information intake and had already figured out that the problem wasn't so much information, but the bad way I had about managing it. Your article was very helpful and enlightening. I also l LOVED your idea about time: "we are not so much saving time as figuring out the best use of our time." because I have struggled with that one all my life. I felt time slip between my fingers but had no idea what to do about it. You really nailed it about using our time more efficiently.
I am really loving your blog and will be hanging around. It was a true pleasure to meet you and your inspiring and helpful writing.
-Alex

I am more of a serial blogger. I go for long stretches without reading them, then BAM!!! I run through several career blogs at once.

I don't know about everyone else, but I get some excellent business and personal development ideas from blogs. In the comments, you get grassroots opinions about things instead of canned corporate perspective.

Great article! You bring up very good points about time management. Don't forget a great way to get help managing your time is to hire a Virtual Assistant which you can find at a site such as VANetworking.com. I really don't think one person can do it all – and why should they if they can get trusted help?