Information Overload
How To Not Get Lost in The Google Society
I’m getting crazy. I’ve recently searched on Google for “Facebook ads tutorial dropshipping” as I wanted to pursue this skill for my new side business.
Look what Google replied:
Wow! Over half a million results. Now that may be is a luxury problem however I tend to feel a little overwhelmed by this sheer amount of information. And this was not the first time I’m experiencing this.
It’s rather the rule than the exception. Now basically two questions arise in my head:
- Where should I start?
- What if I’m missing out on something important?
And this usually leads me to the opposite of what I wanted to achieve in the first place. Instead of gaining knowledge, I’m now in procrastination mode. My brain simply shuts down considering this huge number of opportunities at hand. I think this is a common problem in today’s society.
You see, the internet is a medium with unlimited capacity. Anyone can access and publish unfiltered information into the network and retrieve it at any time. This leads to an impenetrable flood of information that people hardly know how to deal with. With the arrival of the internet knowledge is no longer of a series of facts, but of sets of links, connections, and contradictions that must be filtered and evaluated by the human being — the recipient himself. This leads to physical and psychological stress for some people.
It took me quite a long time to find out that it doesn’t have to be this way. After all, having a search engine always in reach is a big advantage and one of the largest improvements of the 21st century. Having this in mind I think it's worth taking some time and ponder about how to make the best possible use of this opportunity. For me the solution looked something like this:
Learn Through Trial And Error
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. -Thomas A. Edison-
The first step was to accept that I don’t need to know everything about a certain topic in order to be good at it. That means that whenever possible I prefer the learning by doing approach instead of trying to capture all information available to me before starting off. My recommendation:
If you want to pursue something try to gain a minimal amount of knowledge and start implementing before diving more into it. You learn through experience and not while collecting all information you possibly could get.
Set Yourself An Information-Consuming-Limit
Once you understand that it’s best for you to learn based on trial and error, you should also set yourself a limit on how much time you will spend in order to get more information. If you set yourself a clear “information consuming limit” this will help you to bring you always back on track, in case you should fall back into the endless spiral of information overload. I think except, you are studying quantum physics, about 30 minutes of focused info-gathering is a good indication. If it requires more learning time than half an hour in order to put it into practice you are probably overcomplicating things.
Be Clear About What You Want To Achieve
“Begin with the end in mind” -Franklin Covey-
That’s a no-brainer, right? I thought so as well. However, I observed so many times how I distracted myself when I was doing research on some topic.
This is often due to the way of how information is organized today.
In between ads, banners, and backlinks it's a real hurdle to keep focused on what you’ve initially searched for. This is why you should be very clear in the beginning about what you want to figure out and disregard the rest.
Use Pocket
Ok, there is good news. If you are researching something and stumble upon an article or any source of information that isn’t directly related to your search but still of interest to you, just save it for later. Pocket is a great app and desktop application that serves as a cloud-like platform, where you can easily store and classify all articles and posts you want to read at a later stage.
For me, this was extremely valuable as I no longer have the feeling of missing out on something. It’s a simple way of organizing and dominating all the information we are confronted with on a daily basis.
Allow Yourself Some Free Time
Ultimately take a step back. Nowadays, it is hard to relax and break away from every day’s cascade of information. In between instant notifications, social media channels, and email newsletters it's quite hard to get some mental rest.
With the arrival of podcasts, we optimized the infotainment system in a way that we are now able to be continuously connected to some source of information.
Now, I’m not speaking against podcasts. After all, it's a great format. However, consider taking some off-time as well. Take at least 10 or 15 minutes a day in which you allow your mind to do nothing. And discover the beauty of not being mentally attached to something. It’s a real relief. Take a break!
Closing Remarks
Now it’s your turn. Don’t be afraid or stressed out about the flood of information. Learn to handle it. With the tips above it's easier than you may think. I wish you all the best along the way. Have a happy journey and do not forget to learn a lot, keep smiling and stay always positive!!
