Technology today means we can gorge on content from the moment we wake up until we go to sleep, constantly throughout the day without hesitation; But how much of it can we actually take in? Does it reach a saturation point where we keep consuming even though our minds are full?

All you can eat information

For me personally, this information overload means that I generally cannot remember many of the things that I have read. This is because our brains are not programmed to hold lots of short-term memories.

We can use various tools to overcome this. Services like Delicious and Instapaper mean we don’t have to commit it all to memory, but it still takes an involved process to catalogue all of the content we read on a daily basis.

So what is the answer? Reduce the number of people we follow on Twitter, or RSS feeds we subscribe to? Rebalance the signal-to-noise ratio and remove some of the more superfluous things we read? Or have a system in place to catalogue online consumption for future recollection? I’m keen to hear your thoughts on the subject: You can either leave a comment below or reply to me on Twitter.

In the end, you are what you consume. And if you’re not doing your share of creating, you’re like a vegetable soaking up the sun in preparation of one day being harvested. By advertisers.

A healthy balance

Of course no one can just consume, or just create – a balance must be struck. There are numerous inspirational design sites, and you can find yourselves endlessly trawling through hundreds of brilliant shots on dribbble, but the key is to not let consumption get in the way of creation.

Not enough time? Make time!

I find myself filling up my day with my 9-to-5 work at HigherSites, but i’m actively looking for time outside of this to work on my own things; this blog, my portfolio, another venture to further my craft.

It’s all too easy when you say you are too busy to be a consumer, just watching this TV show, or browsing the latest must-see website

So, stop reading this post, and don’t just consume, create!