Mark Hurst’s Bit Literacy (2007) is a useful, but unusual, book which aims to be simultaneously a primer on basic tools and approaches to handling one’s digital life, and a productivity manifesto that aims to trim and streamline one’s approach to email, documents, photos, and other files. Some users will find the basic information about file formats, for instance, very helpful, while others will want to skip to the chapters focused on productivity.
Hurst defines bit literacy as the ability to engage appropriately with the digital bits that we create and receive. For him, engaging appropriately is summed up in his oft-repeated directive to “let the bits go.” By this, he doesn’t mean deleting everything, or turning off all of our media streams. Rather, his book offers questions, methods, and tools to help users to make better decisions about which bits they engage with, how they engage with them, and what they decide to archive.
Managing the Flow of Bits
Three of Hurt’s chapters focus on managing email, to-dos, and photos, as these are the areas that he says overwhelm most users. He defines your email load not by the number of messages that come into your inbox each day, but by the number of messages sitting there, often because you are using your inbox as some other kind of tool, like a filing system, address book, or to do list. He offers a simple approach to emptying your inbox once a day by focusing on deleting, filing, and doing the 2-minute tasks called forth by your email. Messages requiring longer attention get moved to a separate to-do list. His approach is thus compatible with David Allen’s Getting Things Done and Merlin Mann’s Inbox Zero.
Hurst’s chapter on managing to-dos focuses on the online tool he created, Goodtodo.com, which focuses on linking to-dos with particular days, priority rankings, and to-do creation from email. Today, of course, several other online task managers also offer similar features. His approach to managing photos emphasizes the need to selectively delete photos from your archive and offers a simple filing structure that includes information about date, place, and event as needed.
The Media Diet
One of the best chapters in the book is on maintaining what he calls “a media diet” to maximize the information or enjoyment you get from your media sources by focusing on those that provide the best content for your needs:
A balanced food diet draws proportionally on the various food groups; likewise, a healthy media diet draws on different kinds of sources. . . . The key, as always, is to limit the lineup to the smallest set of sources that keep you healthy and energized for the work you have to do. This means not consuming everything that comes your way. (69)
Bit Literate Etiquette
Despite the chapter on managing photos, this book maintains an almost exclusive focus on a business or work environment, ignoring the aspects of to-do list overwhelm that stem from balancing work and personal projects. Hurst writes quite compellingly about the effects of teaching bit literacy to work groups or corporate organizations, particularly given his focus on creating bit literate emails. He offers ways to write focused subject lines and shorter email messages for greater clarity. A bit literate user doesn’t forward, quote all previous messages in the thread, or cc: other users except when absolutely useful. By focusing on creating streamlined communications, you also minimize the load on other people in your organization.
Hurst’s Bit Literacy might well serve as a starting point for a technologically less experienced user curious about many of the topics we write about on ProfHacker, including software tools and productivity. More advanced users might still benefit from the theoretical approach of Hurst’s book, which consistently emphasizes utility and simplicity above all else. You can read a sample chapter at bitliteracy.com.
[image from book website bitliteracy.com]
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26 Responses to Bit Literacy
11331315 - April 26, 2012 at 6:19 am
“so no one came to your school..?” was a question asked by Ms Henrich. I am willing to speculate that someone came to their schools, but these students were not notified because of gate keeping by the guidance counselors who in my experience have been the Sorting Hat that matches students to their predetermined tier of colleges or tech schools.
darccity - April 26, 2012 at 7:54 am
While America debates interest rates on student loans, we are missing horry stories like this and ones far more typical. How unnecessarily complex is the financial aid application process. The most sadistic thing thousands of parents do to their teen is tell them to search and apply for college on their own! “It’s good experience!” No, it’s not! I’ve bought houses and looked for jobs several times in my life, and that’s a walk in the park compared to what teens and their parents go through trying to figure out the process.
First, “financial aid” is the worst euphemist I know. It could be a price reduction from the sticker price (in-house tuition scholarships) or it could be various types fo interest-subsidized or non-subsidized loans, work study, you name it.
Second, their are no “standards” for admission, especially at private college, and “waiting lists” is the biggest sham of all (at most places, it is a gracious way of rejecting you).
Third, fees (especially at public universities) are a backdoor way raising tuitions, and fees are getting higher as new ones keep getting created.
Fourth, public universities are often no longer state supported, as states make massive cuts each year to balance their budgets. So by the time you accept, you’re costs may be considerable higher.
Finally, if you think FAFSA is like root canal work and an invasion of privacy, try filling out the annual Profile that all top private colleges require. The 1040 taxes you just finished is superficial by comparison. Fannie Mae doesn’t require that much information! Why do colleges get away with demanding this info. Because they can. The most important thing a family needs, on the other hand, is the financial solvency of the college they apply to because hundreds will be failing over the next decade. The worst experience is going to a college where the faculty and staff is slashing its budgets. And who wants a degree from a no longer existing college.
Richard Grayson - April 26, 2012 at 9:30 am
This makes me so grateful that my friends and I from all backgrounds and economic levels were able to attend the City University of New York knowing our four years at college would be tuition-free. Most of us were first-generation college students, and we did not have to worry about student loans and debt and not being able to come up with money to pay for our education. I feel sad that today’s students, at CUNY and elsewhere, are not as lucky as we were, just because they were born too late.
inlibrarian - April 26, 2012 at 9:44 am
I have a BA and an MLS and I find the college application and FAFSA process a nightmare! I have counseled my kids’ friends in applying to college when their parents are overwhelmed or uninvolved. They rarely understand the steps to the process and are thus scrambling at the last minute to apply and decide on a school–well after most aid is disbursed.
I think all students at the beginning of their junior year of high school should be walked through the process of getting a ballpark estimate of their families’ expected contributions. The FAFSA website has one: https://fafsa.ed.gov/FAFSA/app/f4cForm?execution=e1s1 It is frightening to be applying in the fall to schools that cost $40, 000 a year on paper and not be told until April what the actual cost will be to you. Then you have a month to choose your future.
I am not looking forward to starting the process again in a few months.
cwm4c - April 26, 2012 at 10:04 am
It would be even better if someone explained how the EFC formula can expect families to pay 40-60% of their income for college expenses. I’ve never been able to explain this, nor counsel people that spending that much of their income is wise.
Nick Ward-Bopp - April 26, 2012 at 10:31 am
Super interesting documentary and premise. I have been working on ideas for after these students graduate in a struggling economy.. mainly recent graduates saddled with student loan debt, seeking alternatives to the standard ‘next steps’ taken after college. Exchanging labor for rent is a way save money, learn tangible skills, and get satisfaction outside of a standard white-collar job. Find an old building, or a cool old house that is in disrepair.. work with the owners and start rehabbing it in exchange for rent/equity. You can follow a project like this at http://www.jarboeinitiative.com/
ehmurray - April 26, 2012 at 10:50 am
Richard -
I remember paying $72.00 per semester, not per credit-hour, for up to eighteen credits at Queens College of CUNY in the 1970s. My friends and I were all first or second generation Americans and the first in our families to attend college. What a time that was! Studying philosophy with Harvey Burstein, who happened to be a messianic Jew, reading Beowulf in the original, taking science classes from just about every department that offered them, and math, too. Spanish and German, also. I got to swim among the reefs at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research. I was able to attend the Johns Hopkins Univeristy on a full-ride scholarship. I spent many years working as a development geophysicist for British Petroleum. At the present time, I am Chair, School of Information Technology at my institution. I think that if I were born even twenty years later, my life would have taken a much different and worse trajectory. Thank you, CUNY!
alf11 - April 26, 2012 at 11:03 am
I teach at an institution where the undergraduate body is made up of 60% people who are the first generation to attend college and 50% of whom are Pell Grant recipients. I completely agree that the financial aspects of attending even our relatively modestly priced university are mystifying to students and their parents, and even to those of us who advise them academically but are at a loss to help them navigate the Financial Aid Office, though I have begun to see that as part of my job. Their lack of understanding is a reason they make very poor financial (and academic) decisions. And I hope those CUNY grads who wax nostalgic will dedicate time, money and prestige to calling for more public funding of institutions
scribble_scholar - April 26, 2012 at 11:26 am
As a first-generation university student, I went through this exact same problem. My parents could offer no advice on financial aid, ACT or SAT testing, or even how to apply to the local college. I had this idea that college was the logical next step after high school, but no one could tell me how to get there. My brain just about shut down when I looked at tuition costs. My teachers assumed that my parents had everything in hand; my parents assumed the opposite. Oddly enough, a full explanation of FAFSA came from my Driver’s Ed class. My instructor was perhaps the only person seriously preparing me for adulthood.
bdavi52 - April 26, 2012 at 11:38 am
I guess it comes a surprise that life, beyond the womb, requires actual effort….that it is not pre-packaged and painless….that it can be complex, time-consuming, ugly, and confusing….that living in the real world does not always enhance one’s sense of self-esteem. And yes, there are lions and tigers and bears out there, too, oh my!
This is not a 1st generation College Student Problem — this is a problem in adult living.
Is the student financial aid process a mess? Sure, absolutely. So is Income Tax. So is buying a house. So is running a household. So is raising kids. So is holding a job. They’re all a series of complex and inter-dependent tasks (many of which are being encountered for The Very First Time) which require the continual development and refinement of basic problem-solving skills that ‘no one ever really explains’.
In the end, what we all find is that it is easy to make mistakes. As a matter of fact, it is critical that we make mistakes for that is how we learn and grow. Ms. Lopez bemoans the fact that “we never had someone take the time and explain this to us”. Gosh, that’s too bad — but did that somehow prevent you from researching the issues, asking the right questions, going to someone who knows? And yes, doing some or all of those things may be difficult…may be challenging…AND, in the end, you may still find that you made a decision which you regret. That is life.
We learn from those events and we move on.
What is disturbing in all of this is the implication that somehow Ms. Lopez’s years at Bakersfield were wasted. They were not. They brought her to this point in time and prepared her effectively for Law School. She accumulated 3 years of experience at an accredited school as a member (evidently a successful member) of a highly diverse student body. She met people she would otherwise not have met; she did things she otherwise would not have done. The paths not taken, the fields not crossed are always greener … or so they would seem to those too immature to recognize the value and the beauty in the world as it is…and the world as it may still become.
11274501 - April 26, 2012 at 11:48 am
While student aid is complex, it is no excuse to say, “I didn’t know”. I have countless students sit in my office and moan about deadlines that they missed or opportunities that passed them by . They blame this on the system of ” no one telling them”. If no one told them, then how did the other 3000 student here find out? We have a very active advising and financial aid office and multiple sessions offered about the FAFSA every year. I am sure that most schools do. While I sympathize with her problem, it sounds like yet more of this generations ” you didn;t hand it to me” mentality. What is wrong with the college she is going to? She should be grateful for college at all. I know tha tmy children will be. AND I take exception to having to ” aim higher” than community college. Community colleges with their extensive student support systems and low cost ARE the answer for these students!!!
sanjoaquin - April 26, 2012 at 11:49 am
I hate to rain on this party, but every school now has a tuition “real cost” calculator on its web site, and has for a couple of years. This handy tool will help you estimate the real costs of the schools you are considering so you can factor it into the decision.
Also, I think that the fit between the student and the college is most important–you want to find a setting in which you can learn most effectively & comfortably. Those will be very different places for different students.
Let’s stop bashing each other. We will get further with improvements if we work together. Community college is a great place to start out. They offer a wide range of academic and occupational options at a variety of locations where the big U’s don’t reach, and the credits are often transferable if that is the path you desire. There are many options for new students. Do some digging and find out what will work best for you.
olmsted - April 26, 2012 at 12:14 pm
My brother entered Texas A&M in ~1980 for a couple hundred a semester. I paid $380/sem at WVU in ’83, and $730/sem in ’88 when finishing up. The writing was on the wall even back then, that I was experiencing the “good times”, and that the doubling I saw in my 5yrs didn’t portend well for the future.
jaimeubo3 - April 26, 2012 at 12:15 pm
I remember high school counselors gathering students in the gym advising them about university protocol including FAFSA. Because there were only two educational tracks: college bound and job studies, only the college bound students were invited to these gatherings. I was in the job studies programs and no one expected my group to ever attend university and therefore never invited. I learned from those friends attending and my own inquisitiveness. I was a first generation college student. I have two teaching certifications, BA, and MA. I pray all first generation college students heed my experience.
fpurayidathil - April 26, 2012 at 12:37 pm
This is hardly the biggest obstacle for first-generation college students. In my experience, the challenge was navigating a system of which most of my peers had parents (and sometime grandparents) at home who could provide insight and first-hand knowledge of how to balance social and academic life, identify internship opportunities, network and prepare for the transition to the working world. Even my friends who were first generation but had parents who had completed college in other countries struggled with this.
Wrapping my head around financial aid was certainly challenging (and I made the mistake on relying on parents who were uninformed in the beginning), but, as someone else mentioned, once I started talking to my more financially literate friends and took the time to figure out the process (by going to the financial aid office and just ASKING), I was able to circumvent a lot of mistakes (and eventually, debt). I wouldn’t call this the biggest obstacle, though, I’d call it the biggest lesson. And frankly, I’m glad that I spent more time learning it than complaining that it wasn’t taught to me. Adopting the right attitude of “this is my responsibility” when it comes to financing one’s education (among other things) is a big part of growing up.
Best of luck to this young lady, but I think it would be wise to appreciate the circumstance of getting a free education than lamenting on not going where she wanted. A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush.
darccity - April 26, 2012 at 1:00 pm
self serving and cruel
darccity - April 26, 2012 at 1:02 pm
said the fox to his prey
darccity - April 26, 2012 at 1:06 pm
I had to suffer, so should you. It’s good for you. That’s what we say to students who are bullied. Nothing wrong the system. No reform needed. Very fair system that doesn’t discriminate against student who work, single parents, or newbies. Best of luck is right!
darccity - April 26, 2012 at 1:13 pm
Even worse though are treatment of student assets such as college savings funds. Sure there are recent tax breaks for saving, but now with low interest and high risks, I still argue against them. FAFSA and Profile expect students to use it all up! Better for parents to make themselves temporarily poor to qualify for the best tuition reductions. You can get a free ride to Harvard or Princeton that way. Otherwise, they’ll take you to the cleaners. So here’s the trick. Mom and Dad (and teens): take the vacation of a lifetime a couple years before your kids apply to college! That way the college pays for you trip lower tuition and your kids won’t graduate buried in debt.
bigjoe - April 26, 2012 at 1:30 pm
I went to a community college for the first 2 years. I earned an associate degree before I went to a state university. Since I had smaller classes and not auditorium classes, I was better prepared as a junior than most students that started at the university. You make community college sound like a “bad” word. I now have an advanced degree and teach in a 2-year college. A big class for me has 25 students, whereas I have a friend at a major university that will have 350 in a class. His students are mostly numbers, but I know my students.
embc100 - April 26, 2012 at 2:50 pm
It’s not about disrespect for deadlines or lack of gratitude for community college opportunities. This piece is more nuanced than that. you missed the point entirely.
abigailb - April 26, 2012 at 3:43 pm
My parents didn’t attend college, and so my biggest struggle was that they thought college was worthless. My dad is a self-made businessman, so he truly believes that anyone can do anything they want if they work hard enough (which isn’t true). My mom was a stay-at-home for 14 years and thinks I should do the same. Now that I have a degree, and am going back for another, my parents tell me that it’s a bad idea, and it won’t amount to anything. We don’t just struggle with college financially. We have to deal with people who put going to college down.
writelit_12 - April 26, 2012 at 8:22 pm
Lopez’s plight is symbolic of the problems, many first generation college students face. It is also an indicator of the shortsightedness of, one purpose of primary education, at the high school level. Too often, students are left without a support network that is able to help them navigate, financing, higher education. A solution to the problem can be found in, establishing community college financing networks and forums, where students and parents exchange information, on how to find and apply for scholarships, and state and federal support. It is an effort that can greatly benefit from the experience of those, who have found ways to pay for college. Local elected officials, should also be called to task on their involvement in supporting higher education. I recently spoke to representatives from the San Diego City Counsels Offices, and questioned their knowledge on the federal mandate on one-year of post secondary education by the year 2020. I found them detached from the discourse pursued by academia. That said. Elected official at the local level, must become more involved in pursuing an agenda, which will prepare citizens to interact in the new information global economy.
rickinchina09 - April 26, 2012 at 9:56 pm
I was a first generation college student from blue collar and farming roots and attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison, which is also my hometown. I never fretted over money matters as this and countless articles make things out to be, though obviously I attended college in a different era. Part of the problem is that too many kids today feel that they are entitled to non-loan aid and too many parents feel guilty if they don’t provide it. The author of this article and at least one poster here insinuates that minority students are routinely advised against the four-year college route which is a baseless claim at best. Moreover, this largely liberal notion that somehow one has failed in life by preparing for a vocation, or trade, is not only elitist but unrealistic.
sciencegrad - April 27, 2012 at 1:22 am
I agree that the things you listed are bigger obstacles than the financial aspect of college. But I would like to add the difficulty of having to work more than 20 hours per week while in high school and trying to make oneself a competitive applicant without that familial guidance. I hear about how involved successful Ivy applicants are in extra-curriculars, sports, leadership positions, and volunteer positions and I don’t understand how someone can have the time to accomplish that while working to put food on the table as well.
raymond_j_ritchie - April 27, 2012 at 7:54 am
I was a first generation university student in Australia in the 1970s. I was very lucky because I popped through the middle of a window of opportunity that was open for only about 20 years or so. The difference is obvious when I talk to students in the Biology 1 classes of today.
Still, despite the costs, the main barrier that first generation students have is that it never occurs to them to apply and no-one they know knows how to. I received absolutely no help from my highschool or teachers. Quite the opposite. I had been severely bullied throughout school and I had learnt the lesson that appointed authority had no interest in my welfare nor would it ever come to my aid. I was all-alone-Charlie. In my dottage now at 58 I know that that the aspirational middle class play a major gatekeeping role and spend a lot of time keeping the hatches down on the stearage passengers below. Took me half a lifetime to realise it. The “progressives” infesting universities and organisations like the BBC are often the worst offenders.