I have the luxury to work according to my mood. 90% of the time, I search the net to do research for my writing; 10% for my promoting my website. I hate anything on the net that eats up my time and doesn’t give me excellent, precise results. I would rather read a good book. That is my way of tackling information overload, if it can be called a way.
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Still, there really isn’t enough time to read everything and while I can save links I also weed out links from time to time as my interests shift. This week I’m very much on the hunt for information about compelling or persuasive content but once I’ve had my fill of the topic (a month or two down the line) I’ll be able to cull those out of my list.

I’ve learned that when it comes to applications like Twitter and Plurk there is a degree of ‘letting life pass by’. Because they store every moment it is easy to spend real time hours sifting through content. With twitter especially, since you can’t mark as read, I’ve found I have to limit my time and read only what flashes past my screen in those rare moments I ‘tune in’ to my twitter feed.

Still, I ache when I think about all the fantastic content that went past when I wasn’t watching. All we can really do after that is trust that the Universe is making sure we get what we are meant to get and if we missed it, we weren’t meant to get it this time around.
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I’m a writer with tons of incoming ideas (from my own imagination/subconscious mind) and lots of projects, either already on the biol or planned for the future. Basically, I switch between Whizfolders (http://www.whizfolders.com) and my Writer’s Digest Weekly Planner to keep it all recorded, organized and moving along.

In Whizfolders I have folders and sub-folders set up for all my current and future projects. Whenever a new idea strikes me–or I see a related resource online–I immediately record it in the proper Whizfolders sub-folder. This avoids having stuff scribbled on scraps of paper, cluttering my desk and In tray.

On a daily basis, I use my WD Weekly Planner to oversee my work day, using checkmarks to get through my To-Do lists. Since the page is divided into M-T-W-Th-F-S/S, I can jot down items ahead of time that need to be done on other days.

Using Whizfolders cuts down on the amount of reading I do when I visit my Twitter page or when I’m out reading blog posts and following threads to new blogs. I feel secure in the knowledge that I have all those juicy links filed in their correct project folder for whenever I need them. And the pages are big enough to copy over an entire blog comment or article excerpt with the link if that proves useful.

(I try to set myself up with clues in case I have absolutely no recall of why I wanted it when I revisit that information.)

I had exactly the same feelings and experiences that you describe when first using Twitter. One way I’ve overcome that feeling of being buried by the reading required to get through the Tweet stream: I trust my intuition.

I now know that, if I go with the flow, I’ll be in exactly the right place at the right time for Tweets to jump out that either (a) most interest me on a personal basis or (b) are perfect for forging a new alliance with another writer or like-minded soul.

Using these methods, I went from disliking Twitter (I found it boring and tedious) to enjoying it and seeing the value in spending time there.
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