Have you been looking for ideas you can use to help manage the frustration and overwhelm caused by information overload?

You can master information overload. You just need put a few new strategies into use. The key strategies you need to implement include...

Focus on one project at a time. Today we tend to tout our ability to "multitask" as a badge of honor. But most research that has been done on multitasking shows that it is a bad thing. Our brains were not designed to keep focus on several things at once. In fact, our brains are designed in just the opposite way: they filter out and delete almost all of what it takes in, in order to help us focus on a particular task at hand.

The research shows that, contrary to popular belief, multitasking makes us less efficient, and less productive. Multitasking has also been shown to kill brain cells! Focusing on one thing at a time makes us more efficient and productive. So stop multitasking right now!

Organize your tasks. One thing that adds stress to our lives is simply keeping track of all the things we need to do. Eliminate that stress by having a system for tracking your tasks. This can be very simple... just keep a list somewhere. When you think of something new which you need to do, immediately add it to the list, and then stop thinking about it. You will be reminded to do it again when you next check your task list.
Review your task list each day, preferably at night, to organize it for the next morning. Whatever the most important thing you need to do is, move to the top of your list, and prioritize the rest of the list in order of importance.

When something new comes up, put it right at the bottom of the list. Don't let new tasks distract you from handling the tasks you have already identified as the most important ones.
Don't let other distractions, like checking email, interrupt the order you handle your tasks. E-mail is the most common distracter for most people. We tend to think we need to check it first, before we start our other work. The problem with this is that you are essentially allowing a huge time-waster to take priority over what you previously decided was your #1 task. If you want to, put "check e-mail" on your task list, but put it down lower than your more critical tasks for the day. Whatever mechanism you decide to set up, never check your email first!

This sort of organization and structure is difficult for many entrepreneurs. The reason many of you want to be in business for yourself is because you like being less organized, you like being distracted and letting life take you where it may. You don't need to change who you are. You just need to realize that you have these tendencies and put a structure in place to help you stay on track.

Use the 80/20 rule. You may have heard the idea that 80 percent of your results come from only 20 percent of the work you put in. Figure out what the work you can do which gives you the biggest gains, and focus on those. Most of what you do probably gives you only small gains, if any at all. Make the tasks which give you the biggest-bang your priority. Leave the rest of it until later, or get someone else to do it for you, or just leave it alone.
What do you think?

 

Wishing you the very best of luck and success!