Seth Godin truly nailed it on the head today with a short blog post titled “In and out”.
That’s one of the most important decisions you’ll make today.
How much time and effort should be spent on intake, on inbound messages, on absorbing data…
and how much time and effort should be invested in output, in creating something new.
There used to be a significant limit on available intake. Once you read all the books in the college library on your topic, it was time to start writing.
Now that the availability of opinions, expertise and email is infinite, I think the last part of that sentence is the most important:
Time to start writing.
Or whatever it is you’re not doing, merely planning on doing.
I grew up loving reading, loving learning and this has transformed me into someone that constantly juggles half a dozen books, a couple magazines, a never-ending Twitter feed and a truly never-ending Google Reader. But as much as I enjoy it, when I step back I realize that I really love doing something about what I’ve learned.
The problem is saying “enough is enough”, stepping back, and taking action.
It feels like I’ll never get the balance right, but I try to get better every day.
Jed Christiansen 