We live in an input-saturated age.

We are bombarded with input from the moment we wake up. We read the paper, watch the news, check emails…

The taxi plays multimedia advertising. The buses play dramatic soap operas. There is flickering puke-inducing advertising “innovation” outside the train windows in certain underground segments…

At the office we have meetings, phone calls, newsletters, reports…

Out of the office we are connected via our mobiles, Blackberries, netbooks and laptops...

There are ads, billboards, touters, flashing lights, loud music absolutely EVERYWHERE. A particularly spectacular example of an hyper-stimulating environment is the escalator well leading to the MRT station under the current ION development on Orchard Road. The walls are made up of massive plasma displays that constantly show looping trippy animations amidst mind-numbing “ambience” music (a small section is shown above). The constant crowds and excessive heat from the plasmas add to the sense of sensory overload hell.

There is a real danger of us becoming mere processors of input. Where is the time away from all this stimuli to get creative? We need to stop occasionally so as to see things from a different perspective. Or to let the insights distil out.

As I get older, I am becoming more and more selective of my inputs. Where they come from, the times when I am open to receiving them, and the times when I am ready to process them. This includes not checking emails every two minutes, not having email or Internet on my mobile phones, severely limiting the blogs/twitter/news feeds I subscribe to, and severely limiting the magazines I read and TV I watch.

I am also trying to take more time away. Quiet time. Not input or input-processing time.

The interesting thing is, I find myself far more creative and ready to come up with new thoughts and ideas after every break. Innovative solutions to problems don’t come in the midst of daily busy-ness or work. Nor do they come from forced “must have killer solution now now now” pressure cooker situations.

What interesting ideas or clear insights do we let the daily flood of input push out of our heads?