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It's been said that the
average New York Times Sunday edition contains more
information than a person in 15th century England was
exposed to during their entire lifetime.
In the information age, our
minds get bombarded daily with so much data that we start
filtering it out as a self- defense mechanism.
On the Internet, the
information overload gets so severe that it seems to bring
out the ADD (attention deficit disorder) in all of us.
To make things worse,
expect the avalanche of information we must all deal with
online to start coming faster and harder and to never,
ever stop.
Unlimited amounts of
information available online represents a truly
double-edged mental sword.
On the good side, you can
find out virtually anything you want about any person,
place, thing, fact, problem and more. On the bad side,
since you can find anything, many people get lost and
caught up in "everything" and never accomplish
much.
In fact, most people end up
drowning in a sea of information when all they wanted was
a simple drink of water.
To help you effectively
deal with the never-ending torrent of online information,
let me offer 3 simple solutions that will profoundly
affect your ability to get things done.
First, operate with a clear
purpose for what you plan to accomplish online.
Many people start out with
a vague idea of what they want to accomplish on the Web
and end up wasting hours surfing aimlessly.
One simple solution: write
down your purpose for going online on a sticky note and
put it on the side of your monitor.
Simple purpose statements
like "Check email" or "Find map to
Detroit" or "Research where to advertise my
blog" can save countless hours by reminding you of
your true purpose for sitting down at the keyboard (and
keep you from wandering off to explore Britney Spears or
The Simpsons).
Next, if you do want to go
off on a sidetrack away from your original purpose, set a
time limit.
Kind of like recess in
kindergarten, give yourself a set amount of time to run
free, but then get back in the classroom and get back to
business.
Typically, I give myself
anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes to roam, but only if I think
it will bear fruit for my purpose in the end.
I also force myself to
honestly answer the question, "Does this really fit
with my purpose for being online right now?"
If not, then I goof off for
about 5 minutes and then write down the idea, website, or
topic for future investigation.
By the way, a simple egg
timer works great for this.
Finally, if you ever find
yourself online without a purpose, but can't seem to stop
surfing or searching, simply get up from your computer and
walk away for a few minutes to clear your head.
Often this represents the
fastest way to stop yourself wasting countless hours in
meaningless activity online.
Bottom line, implementing
simple strategies for dealing with information overload
online now will pay huge dividends in peace of mind and
time savings in the future.
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About
The Author
Jim
Edwards is a syndicated newspaper
columnist and the co-author of an amazing
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