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Thunderstorms of noise

Over the past two weeks, we’ve had at least two thunderstorms in Chicago. And loud ones. A new friend of mine in Dallas also told me about thunderstorms they were having. Her comment got me thinking about all the noise around us today.

Today, the noisiest storms that we hear don’t come from the sky. Instead, they come from all the soundbites raining down on us every single day.  As the amount of inputs go up — more emails, calls, texts and ideas –more people are fighting for your attention.

This is especially true as our lives are becoming busier. Work weeks are increasing. Some of us have two jobs. And we’re all getting more Facebook friends and Twitter followers than ever.

One way to get past this is to simply ignore all the noise. Turn off your phone. Don’t reply to all the emails. Don’t sign in on Facebook. But I get it–that’s easier said than done.

Perhaps a better way to do it is to decrease the noise and increase human contact. Find your goods friends and people that you want to know better and interact more with them. And over time do more of that, while turning down the volume for the noise.

In the end, the experience you have with someone you trust and like is far more important than random messages on the screen. Especially as some messages that weren’t even meant for you in the first place.  Today’s huge surplus of electronic messages means that human interactions are less frequent but more important than ever.

So the next time you need advice, call your friend don’t email them.

And the next time you’re thinking about texting someone you like, try calling instead. He/she will appreciate it more.