The SCN Encourager – Friday, March 22, 2013

We’re deluged in data. Can we stay afloat?

TGIF probably takes on new meaning week by week for school leaders and communicators. The necessity for us to do more with less never seems to diminish. Nor does our internal daily battle with the ominous, ever-present feeling of being overwhelmed.

It’s understandable, really.  Although we are stressed by significant financial and legislative uncertainty, we also have a meteor of data hurtling our way that is growing in size, complexity, and velocity. (I sort of stole this “meteor” reference from the recent news reports of a meteor sighting in Russia. And it’s a better image than something I’d concoct on my own.)

And think about what comes your way – even more than what you may realize.

Your brain is the target of more than 3.6 zetta-bytes annually. Of course, I don’t know exactly what zetta-bytes are, but I’m assuming they’re like calories. The fewer of them on your plate, the better.

I did find an article that says 3.6 zetta-bytes are the equivalent of about 100,000 words coming your way EVERY DAY. (Since I only email out the Encourager Monday-Friday, only about .000032% of this problem is my fault by the way. I did the math.)

Incredibly, people in our positions deal with a 350% increase in communications clutter than did our counterparts in 1980.

So where can we find aid and comfort? What steps can we take to help our brains and bodies?

The answers are not found in improving our time management skills or shifting away from today’s “multi-tasking” to tomorrow’s “multi-multi-tasking.”

Researchers say that hope can be found in something quite simple.

We need to daydream more, intentionally and throughout the day.

Daydreaming improves our long-term memory and assists us in processing and integrating new facts and information.

I can do this. Easy. Plus, it fits within my household budget – at least for now. Summer’s coming up and I have some things I’ve already been daydreaming about. So, we’ll see.

Tom Page, SCN