Image credit http://www.sxc.hu
If you’re like me, you’re DROWNING in a sea of information.
More email. More special reports. More web pages to read.
And that’s not all.
There’s even more!
More video to watch. More audio to listen to. More people to follow.
At times, it can become OVERWHELMING.
But only if YOU let that happen!
I’ve not completely mastered the art of overcoming information overload, but I do have a system. It works for me. It will work for you.
I’m going to outline my ’system’ - and if you have any input that will add, expand or improve upon it, please share it with me… you’ll be doing me a big favor! 
#1 - Prioritize
I’m a heart surgeon. In active practice. Need to keep learning and staying up to date in my specialty.
I’m also a widely followed online marketer and infopreneur. Many people rely on me for timely advice and direction.
So stuff related to these roles is important to me. Other things are less so.
I do enjoy and relax by doing some other things - but those come SECOND to the important ones.
By setting priorities and keeping them straight, I make sure my most productive time is focused on what really matters.
#2 - Discipline
I have set myself a routine. One for the morning, before I go to work. Another for the evening, after I finish my day’s work.
My morning routine includes a short workout, checking email and answering important messages, and visiting one or two forums or blogs to read and post.
Then, my day’s work begins.
Following the lesson I learned in ZEN TO DONE, I make THREE daily priority tasks - and those simply must GET DONE!
Everything else that crosses my desk or email inbox or is brought to my notice gets filed for ‘future reference’. I get to them ONLY after the 3 daily priority tasks are finished.
#3 - Efficiency
Too many people put this first. I put it 3rd, because it is possible to be efficient, but INEFFECTIVE… if your priorities are not right.
For example, my good friend Willie Crawford tells me we’ll be seeing a ton of fresh product launches in the IM niche this month. Already, Jeff Walker hinted at it in his notes to PLF 2.0 owners.
What does this mean to me?
I can PREPARE to stay abreast of them - without diverting myself from my planned course of action.
* I won’t read the marketing messages - but will file them for later.
* I won’t ignore the launches - but won’t waste time analyzing each one.
* I won’t criticize the marketers - but will learn from them, on MY terms, and on MY schedule.
Knowledge is power. And forewarned is forearmed. I’m not running and hiding because the deluge is about to hit. I’m just planning and allotting resources appropriately.
THE HARDEST THING TO DO…
All of these things are easy - when compared to this last ’success secret’.
FOCUS
One key for my being able to get so many things done is that I have laser-keen focus on what I’m doing at any time.
For instance, while I’m writing this message to you, my 2 little nieces want me to play with them, so does my young daughter, and there’s an Indian Premier League cricket match going on which I’d love to watch.
But I’m writing this note.
It will take me 10 to 15 minutes to finish. After that, I’ll go play - and watch the match.
Earlier, I might have stopped in between to follow one of many distractions.
It not only slows down the work, it destroys the ‘flow’. What could be done in 10 minutes may drag on for half a day - and that’s such a waste!
The same focus extends into my bigger projects. I try to take a new project idea from concept to completion before dabbling in the next one.
And while my personal style is to handle 3 to 5 different projects at the same time, each of them does get done on a timetable - and project #6, 7 or 8 will not begin until then!
You can follow a similar approach too.
Here’s an example.
You are at a unique stage in your business growth. And what you need may or may not be what’s hot at the moment.
If you don’t have a product ready to launch, then Jeff Walker’s ‘Product Launch Formula 2.0′ is not essential for you.
Did you completely ignore my emails to you about it?
If you did, GOOD FOR YOU
Or take this situation.
If you are not yet sure what is the best way to explore building a business online, and you think being an infopreneur is a good idea, you may want to learn more about it… and so
* you’ll go to my Infopreneur blog
* you’ll read the story of how I got started as an infopreneur
* you’ll download the 4 free infopreneur reports
* you’ll consider buying ‘Think, Write & RETIRE‘ or ‘The Internet Infopreneur SYSTEM‘
BUT…
If you already know you want to be an expert at affiliate marketing, or have a lead generation model that works, or rely primarily on domaining for your
revenue - then you should completely ignore anything I tell you about being an infopreneur!
Are You Beginning To See The Light?
Do you believe it IS possible to beat info-overload?
Can you condition yourself to follow this approach?
This is a SIMPLE and EFFECTIVE process to handle information overload.
-> Decide clearly what you need to focus on.
-> Stick to that decision in the face of temptation.
-> Do your work and do it well/fast/cleanly.
-> Stay on target until you get the job done.
Remember - if you can see your goal and know what takes you towards it, then it is infinitely easier to ignore anything else that takes you off course.
And as a corollary, when you don’t know what you really want, it’s easy to scurry down rabbit-holes and get nowhere in a hurry!
Make your choice - beat information overload, starting right NOW!
New here? Please pick up your three FREE gifts - click here. Hope you like them. And drop by often!
1 comment so far ↓
Hi Dr. Mani,
These seem to be really good advices - taken that you use them makes me more confident they’re golden.
What you say about efficiency is so true but many people think it’s better to be efficient rather than effective, maybe just because they don’t really understand what each really means. Being effective means doing the RIGHT stuff. And efficient doing whatever stuff RIGHT. I’d rather do the RIGHT stuff not-so-RIGHT rather than doing the WRONG stuff RIGHT.
And I have to admit my problem is I’m still finding myself. I’m not sure about that RIGHT stuff. Kind of undecided what I really want and I realize that I’m trying to be too many things at once - that’s bad.
I often wonder what I can do about this information overload and it often comes down to searching the best system to process all that information, but it’s really about setting priorities and remaining focused.
Leave a Comment