by Marc Ostrofsky, father and serial entrepreneur
If anyone on this earth knows about INFORMATION OVERLOAD, I do.
I am an entrepreneur so my income changes year over year.
I think up, start up, run, manage and then hope to sell my businesses.
I am a New York Times Bestselling Author of Get Rich Click! The Ultimate Guide to Making Money on the Internet!
I have a new book coming out in September of 2013 called Word of Mouse: 101+ Trends on how we Buy, Sell, Live, Learn, Work and Play!
I am a father of 5 daughters – ages 19 – 25. Three of my own, two step daughters.
One daughter is in London for a year of college, one works for one of my companies in Dallas, one just told me she is going to go for a PhD at George Washington University, one works in NYC, and one is in college at Boston University. Their preferred mode of staying in touch with their mom and me? Texting and Facebook.
I am the owner of several businesses with a lot of employees, which translates to tons of email, texts, phone calls, and voice mail.
I sit on boards for different business ventures I am invested in. More beeps, Skypes and tweets.
I have a home that is over 8,000 sq. ft. and want to sell that and “scale down.” Add the realtor to my already overloaded information bandwagon.
I am right in the middle of buying a second home in Colorado and the legal and banking issues never seem to end. Nor do the emails and texts from that realtor.
My daughter came in from spring break today…was bumped off of 4 flights…and arrived 6 hours late. The transportation updates were helpful but overwhelming, to say the least.
And to end my day, the watch I wear, which was “fixed” last week, broke again tonight! No comment.
The irony that much of my career has been built on or with the help of technology and Internet—and yet it’s technology and the Internet that now seem to rule my life– is not at all lost on me.
I think I handle it well…but I have always made money and created business ventures from Information. I found my niche doing so. I learned after college that when buyers need sellers, and sellers need buyers and there is a need for information, the information provider makes money in the middle. I have done this for my entire business career by making money on the information being created –thereby adding to the information overload of others, I guess 🙂
In our new “information society,” we are taught better means faster, smarter, quicker, thinner, etc. So that’s what we strive for. And today’s information society won’t let you get by without at least one of the following: Computers on your desk, laptops, iPADs, iPHONEs or some other information device…maybe CNN on 24/7/365.
So, back to my typical, information-overloaded day (well deserved, I admit).
I ended my night talking with Greg, a friend who is a top-notch lawyer in town. He is one of those aggressive, never stop lawyers that really stays on top of everything he gets involved with! He is the Type A personality that is always looking at his phone for the next phone call, email or text! He answered his phone and sounded awfully mellow. I didn’t think I had the right person on the phone
He said “HEEEEEEELLLLLOOOOOO.” Wow, that was odd….especially for him. This fast charging, high priced lawyer was so mellow, I thought this had to be the wrong person on the other end of the line.
When I asked if he was OK….he said “SURRREEE.” He went on to say he was sitting in a rocking chair, at his weekend ranch in Wimberly, Texas, with a drink in one hand, a cigar in the other and looking at the stars.
And here I had called Greg for some much needed sympathy for all the craziness I have CREATED in my life and here he was, teaching me how to detox.
I guess the moral of the story is that we ALL have too much on our plates.
We all have CREATED more issues in our lives that we need to deal with.
The media has created the “faster, quicker, stronger, thinner is better” mentality
The Internet has certainly aided and abetted the Information Overload market.
Technology has brought it to us and keeps it in front of us via iPHONES, iPADS, Computers, Laptops, TV’s and many other products.
The world has changed, but you don’t have to. Keep it all in perspective. Take it one day at a time. When things get to crazy, I like to call a good friend so I can feel that I’m not the only one….but I won’t be calling Greg on weekends the next time.
Read more about Marc at http://www.getrichclick.com
