How to Beat Information Overload
We’re living in a world of information overload.
Over 4 million blog posts are published every day. There are more than 800,000 podcasts and more than 30 million podcast episodes available. Countless emails land in our inbox daily with ‘COVID-19’ or ‘webinar’ somewhere in the subject line.
A 12-year-old with an internet connection today has more access to information that Bill Clinton had during his term in the White House.
But too much of anything is simply too much, and trying to keep up with all of this information can be exhausting.
But here’s the thing.
We shouldn’t be trying to keep up at all.
Instead of keeping up, we should leverage information to level up.
Here’s how you can cut through the noise and find the proverbial signal.
What are your goals?
Is it short-term marketing success?
Is it long-term financial success?
Is it optimal health, or an optimal romantic relationship?
Whatever steps you’re taking, you need to have a directional lighthouse you’re moving towards to help you chart your course.
If it’s financial success, shortlist a number of people that have attained the kind of wealth that you too are aspiring to.
Did they come from similar beginnings as yours?
Was their success based on the quality of their decisions or did they benefit from chance shocks to the global economic, social or political system, or just plain luck that they’ve been milking ever since? An inheritance, or maybe a lucky investment early on in life?
If so, then they may not be the most believable people, but rather riding the coat-tails of circumstance.
Seek out people whose circumstances, as much as it is possible, best align with yours when they were in your position.
If you don’t have access to said believable people, seek out their recommendations through blog posts or podcast episodes they’ve been featured in.
Sure, you could just review book recommendations on Amazon, but you don’t know anything about the people providing these recommendations. They might be flush with cash, or on the same journey as you, so we really don’t know if they are in a position to judge whether or not the advice provided is credible, actionable or valuable. This is why seeking out believable people is key.
You want to look for believable people whose outcomes are a byproduct of decisions they made, and continue to make.
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The WorkFlow podcast is hosted by Steve Glaveski with a mission to help you unlock your potential to do more great work in far less time, whether you're working as part of a team or flying solo, and to set you up for a richer life.
To help you avoid stepping into these all too common pitfalls, we’ve reflected on our five years as an organization working on corporate innovation programs across the globe, and have prepared 100 DOs and DON’Ts.
