Feels Like An Information Dump!
Have you been dumped on?
At times, all this information can feel overwhelming. What do you do first? What is most important? What information can I use today to make money tomorrow?
As a new member to WA, it can be overwhelming, confusing, and even intimidating!
If you are new, or even experienced in this business, the amount of information to sift through can seem endless.
If you had to describe the Internet, what would you say?
Here is my description of the Internet.
Imagine that you are in a giant room with people standing very close together. This room is so big that you cannot see the walls in any direction. There must be millions of people all standing next to you. Every one of these people are talking or yelling their own personal message at the top of their voices and all at once. You occasionally hear something that catches your attention for a brief moment, however, most of the time, everything just sounds like jibberish.
You press a button on your computer and you instantly go to another room that seems smaller. There are still lots of people here but you can better understand what several of them are saying. It kind of sounds like what you are looking for but you can't quite understand.
You click another button on the computer and you go to a smaller room where you can actually see the walls. This room has fewer people and they all seem to be saying basically the same thing.
Now you zero in on one of their conversations and you pick them to listen to. After you press the button yet again, you are seated at the table with the person you picked to listen to and you can clearly hear their message. You can even have a conversation with them and they answer your questions or they bring their friends in to help them answer your questions.
What does this have to do with the information dump?
Let me ask another question. How can you navigate the first room with all of those people and all the chaos without going crazy?
You have to start off with a focused plan!
As an Internet or affiliate marketer, you are no longer a web surfer or a person browsing the net.
When you open or turn on your computer, your time is money. whether you physically make it then or you invest your time for a monetary award in the future.
You cannot afford to bounce around, you must remain focused. You need a plan!!!
Here are some tips to survive the sea of information.
1. Develop a plan of action whether it be formal and written down or just in your mind. Have an idea of what you are looking for and where you are going before you click on the computer.
2. Set a time limit for your search, or reading emails, or other computer activities. Use an egg timer or alarm to help you to stay on schedule.
3. Do not chase a shiny object. Stay focused. If there is something that you really want to look at or follow up on then write down the information on how to go back to it and then move on with your task at hand. Remember that you are not a surfer at this time.
4. Give your tasks a priority and then stick with the plan. Do the most important things that need to be done first.
5. Keep everything organized and in order so that you can quickly find what you need. Make sure that your system allows for additional data input. This can be a physical system or an electronic system or both. Whatever works for you so that you can use what you are collecting.
6. Do not feel like you have to do everything at once. Work your plan and break up lengthy tasks into smaller tasks with smaller time allowed for them so that you can avoid getting bogged down and frustrated.
7. Set aside some time to surf and explore and have fun. This is important also. Just make sure that you do this at a given time and set a limit on the time used for this activity.
What things do you do to remain focused whenever you do research or other work on the computer besides writing?
Now you have some information that you have learned that you can use to navigate that first huge room of the Internet without getting hurt.
There will be a part 2 of this topic where I will talk about following advice on a task and how you choose who you will listen to so that you are not dumped on and confused.
Remember to filter the information and focus, focus, focus. Dave.
Recent Comments
59
Hi Dave
Great post and great information! I see myself losing focus several time also. I know what my job is, but sometimes I lose that focus need to get done.
Thanks for reminding me and I have bookmarked this one.
Sheila
Glad to be of help Sheila. Thanks for the comments and have a great rest of the weekend. Dave.
Dave, I liked the post, and I compared it to a time when I was a stock investor. All the noise from the talking heads on Wall street, Bloomberg, CNBC and others seemed overwhelming. What I figured out was you have to zone them out and focus on one thing.
"The person that chases two rabbits catches neither"
James
Hi Dave,
I write a post-it note with a one or couple word summary of the task at hand. Then I set my timer for 20 minutes. It keeps me focused on one track rather than going down rabbit holes chasing shiny things.
Great article.
Thanks!
-Alyssa
Alyssa, that is a great idea and it works for you. Super! Thanks for the comments and do keep in touch. Dave.
Great metaphor for the Internet Dave.
They should make this a Sticky (oh, what's that? hehe)
See you @ the Top!
--Michael
Good information, Dave. Well done! You have clearly described what
will happen if you feed yourself with too much information. This will result to information overload. We need to manage our time wisely for us not to be overwhelmed. Your post is somehow related to the post that I just created, please feel free to click this link and tell me what you think about it: Applying the 5 R's of Learning at WA Many thanks!
Adel : )
Hi Adel, Thanks for your comments. I read your post and it is a great blog full of good information about planning and organizing in order to gain success. Thanks for sharing. Dave.
You are very welcome, Dave. We all need to work together by sharing our ideas for personal dev't and most especially for the success of our online business endeavours.
Wish you all the successes in life. Keep on inspiring others with your innate writing talent : )
Hi Dave. This is a great article. I think one of the most important skills is being able to use our time effectively. I think the plan you lay out here is a really great guide for using our time effectively. I've noticed recently how much time I waste going through emails. Sometimes you have to be ruthless. I think I check everything in case I miss something. But not only do I think things get regurgitated so you never really miss out but also if you can't stick to a plan then you won't achieve anything of significance. I think anything that is going to be good will take a lot of focused time and attention. All the best, Gareth.
Hi Gareth, thanks for the comments. On WA or other emails, I glance through them at first and I transfer important ones to answer first in a subfolder. I transfer others that I want to keep for the future to another subfolder. This only takes a few minutes to up to 10 minutes. I then leave all the others where they are but I put a star where the old ones end so when new ones come in, I know where I ended my first sorting.
I then go to my important subfolder and I go through them. If I need to keep them then I transfer them to a keep folder. I work this system pretty quickly so I do not miss things. Just a suggestion. Also use an egg timer to time your email time. This way you can stick to task and schedule. If you allow 20 minutes for emails, then when the timer goes off, you are done and you can move onto the next thing to do. Dave.
Thanks Dave. This is so useful that I copy and pasted it. Good organisation is essential right. I'm not by nature an organised person but I'm learning just how important it is and have begun changing.
Thank you very much for your valuable information Yes we all should follow a pattern to et sucess
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Awesome post! Yes, I can relate to to this post Dave. Sometimes I do feel frustrated and overwhelmed, will use your iinformation to keep on track and to keep from getting lost. Thank you so much! Enjoined it greatly! :-)
Glad it is of help. Thanks Orlando, keep in touch. Dave.
You are welcome! :-)