Increase Your Focus and Productivity With This “Low Information Diet”
One of the most helpful concepts I gained from reading The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferris was his suggestion to go on a “Low Information Diet”.
We’re no longer in the Age of Information. I declare that we have officially entered the Age of Information-Overload.
Almost everyone I know seems to show signs of ADD and I think the avalanche of information available to us these days is partly to blame.
My friend, Sarah Sears, a licensed clinical mental health counselor with a private counseling practice in Burlington, Vermont, works with ADD patients. Sarah created a very useful set of guidelines for cutting back on the information overwhelm and taking control:
Filtering Information
Being intentional with information intake…instead of reactionary.
Information can be like candy to a curious brain. The challenge is too much information equals over stimulation and over overwhelm, which often translates into shutting down and feeling stuck. By going through this worksheet you can increase your awareness of your relationship to information, identify some information priorities, and set some information filtering priorities.
What types of information do you want?
Examples include: Work, Entertainment, and Social
Work - What information will help you to meet your goals in this area? Make it as specific as possible and know that it can change each month/week. Example, if you are business owner who wants more clients, you might set a priority to focus on information related to getting clients.
Social –
Entertainment –
Other -
Where do you currently get information from in each of these areas? Examples might be email lists, newspapers, books, Facebook, Twitter, movies, phone calls, meetings, classes, teleclasses, etc..
How do you decide if it’s important information?
Create your list of priorities- include examples and budget (estimate) the amount of time you would like to spend on each area.
What are the priorities for information right now?
When considering a whether or not to consume a particular piece of information, ask these questions:
o Is this still helpful to me?
o How will this be helpful to me?
o How often do I want to read or look at this?
o Does this information ever get in my way of getting things done?
How do you let go of information?
You can’t possible know EVERYTHING! If you need to know something, you can look it up when you need it.
---Ryan Eliason is a professional life and business coach with a proven track record of business success. His small business clients have frequently doubled or tripled their incomes, increased their positive impact, and simultaneously improved their lifestyles. Subscribe to this blog. Download your FREE audio seminar and workbook on How To Have The Best Year of Your Business and Your Life.
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2 Responses Leave a comment
Hi Ryan,
In a culture that seems to indicate that we should be all things to all people and know everything, it isn’t hard to see why we have ended up ADD and overwhelmed and confused. It has helped me a great deal to read your step by step suggestions for taking things one at a time and being sure to put them in piles of different priorities. I will get to them but your comments are supportive of appreciating the smaller steps are the ones that assist me to complete needed task and/or to eliminate those things that are not in my best interest. Or for that matter, no longer of interest and being done just out of duty.
Thanks,
Sandra
Ok I succumbed to another article before I leave. I have just read Tim’s book and the low information section resonated with me for sure. I then went and unsubscribed from all my various lists and am concentrating on what I know I can do. That bit about learning it when you need it is stunning and simple.