It seems like the obvious answer is no, right?  Is it possible to be too on top of it?  Can you be too informed?

A couple of articles I’ve read lately have lead me to believe that yes, it is possible to be too informed.

Let’s take a look at Dan Ariely’s (you might recognize the name… he’s an author of very interesting books about human behavior like Predictably Irrational) new post called The 7 Habits of Highly Ineffective People:

4) Checking email too much. If it seems that there’s too much about email on this list, I assure you, there isn’t. Checking email is addictive in the same way gambling is. You see, years back the famous psychologist B.F. Skinner discovered that rats would work much harder if the rewards were unpredictable (rather than a treat every 5 times they pressed a bar, one would come after 4, then 13, etc). This is the same as email, most of it is junk, but every so often, it’s fantastic: an email from the woman you’ve been chasing for instance. So we distract ourselves from work by constantly checking and checking and waiting to hit the email jackpot. And to be perfectly honest, I’ve checked my email at least 30 times since starting writing this article.

Just like Dan says… it’s not much different than gambling.  And then there was this copy of the New York Times floating around our office for the last week.  The cover story is called Hooked on Gadgets, and Paying a Mental Price.

Scientists say juggling e-mail, phone calls and other incoming information can change how people think and behave. They say our ability to focus is being undermined by bursts of information.

The article is excellent in its entirity, and if you work with a computer I encourage you to read it.  Basically we are re-wiring our brains with constantly checking and checking and checking email and otherwise.  And it’s causing a loss of creativity and we lose a sense of well-being in environments that don’t stimulate us as much as computers, tvs, and cell phones. read full article….

Thanks to Wild Goose Creative for hosting the first SWAY Search Workshop

This last week was tough.  On top of my brother’s accident that placed him in the hospital for a couple of days, Alaina and I worked long and hard to put together the first SWAY Search workshop.  Presenting the ideas that have helped me achieve some level of success in SEO proved to be more difficult than actually doing the SEO.

I certainly have a new found respect for good teachers.  I’d like to be one some day but I still have plenty to learn.

But don’t let my complaining about the amount of work or years of teaching practice that awaits me confuse you.  The workshop was a great success.  All of the students (who you’ll meet below) were amazing and really seemed to “get it”.  I’m sure they’ll all go on to have a lot of success with SEO too. read full article….

I’ve been listening to a lot of oxford-style debate thanks to NPR’s new and awesome show, Intelligence Squared. After hours of listening to thoughtful and well-spoken people debate the merits (and problems associated with) teachers’ unions, paying for sex, atheism, etc., it’s hard not to think about subject close to my heart with the same attitude of curiosity and obstinance.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization for those of you who are new to the world of internet marketing) has been the butt of a lot of jokes, insults, and general malaise for at least as long as I can recall. (That’s not to say that even though people hate SEO they don’t invest in it for their own sites behind closed doors, but that’s an entirely distinct issue for another time.)

Before I explain my position, I want to extend an invitation from anyone who wants to add to this debate. This is especially true of people who disagree with me. So leave your notes and messages in the comments below and I’ll be sure to let anything fly. On to the main event…

I’m going to try to convince you of two points I firmly believe, and then follow-up with a note to SEOs at large.

1. First point is that SEO works, and that is why there is a market for it.
2. Second point I’d like to discuss is that it is the fact that SEO works that makes people hate it and webmasters’ (possibly very reasonable) anger should be pointed at the search ecosystem instead of the SEO’s who help people to do better in that ecosystem. In other words, blame the flawed system, not the best option in that flawed system.
3. Finally, I’d like to discuss how the some of the SEO community and some professional SEO’s don’t help the situation by lacking transparency. read full article….