Nicholas Carr's blog has recently started touching on the topic of how the Internet has changed the way we read and think. He's certainly uncovering some intrinsic truths about human nature in the 21st century.
His most recent post "
Does my brain look fat?" posits that we spend less time "thinking" and more time "consuming" information simply because it is "free".
We're having an internal discussion on the merits of shifting to a 4 day work week... not to work less, but to think more. My own personal experience from a recent 4 day break was a measurable increase in productivity and clarity of direction upon return as a result of removing myself from the Internet for a few days (this statement probably seems overly obvious to many.... but those who know me understand that I can never put my work down).
Some might say "Well, just stop reading emails and RSS Feeds while at work!". No, I don't think that's the answer... being "in net" certainly has it's advantages if you can train your information consumption behavior to parse the signal from the noise. However, this process of constantly parsing information is not really sustainable and has a point of diminishing returns.
As Developers of CMS software and interactive websites, we are inherently on the supply-side of the information equation. We are ultimately measured by the information and value we create, not what we consume.
We'll see how the 4 day work week experiment goes. As an aside, I don't plan to always be golfing during my extra day off. There are a couple local non-profits that could really use a "Rent-a-CIO", and I'd actually find it to be a recreational activity to help them overhaul their processes and leverage SaaS to communicate with their constituents.