Book Review: Bit Literacy

 

I didn't get a whole lot from Bit Literacy, but after 20 pages, I quickly realized why.

It's not written for me. It's written for you.

How do I know?

When you shut down your computer at night, how many emails do you have in your inbox?

I have zero.

Mark Hurst is one of my favorite Internet thought leaders. He's the mind behind Creative Good and ThisIsBroken. He's been in the industry for the last 10 years and knows what he is talking about.

What Mark is writing about is how do you manage all of the electronic bits that fly at you each day. Are you effective in dealing with them? Are you productive?

• One of his key metrics is, have a completely empty inbox at the end of each day.
• Another is: how long does it take you to find a specific picture in your collection?
• do you have macros, one-touch command, keyboard shortcuts at your disposal?
• can you type using the Dvorak keyboard (ok, I can't do that one, but I can do about 85 wpm in touch-typing...another big beef of his..thanks mom, for making me take typing in 8th grade!)

I did walk away with a few ideas for improvement, which was great. And I will use them.

The challenge with Bit Literacy is the challenge of most self-help books, it requires you, when all is said and done, to actually implement the techniques you have learned.

In my experience, that is where most people fall short, be it diet, exercise or Bit Literacy.

Regardless, if you feel overwhelmed by the amount of info coming your way daily, this is as good a place as any I have seen for you to start getting a handle on it.

But, remember, it's not about the technology or the tools, it is how you use them.

And for fun, check out his list of "good experience games"