Information Overload -- How Much Information is Too Much?

Know More: Work from Home Advice information overload, mentors, processing information, too many facts, using the best ideas

Keeping up with all of the data available today can be a bit like riding a roller

too-much-information-is-like-riding-a-rollercoaster.jpg

coaster -- just when you feel that you're on top of the available information new facts become available and you plunge back down into the sea of statistics and other information.

How much data do we really need and where do you draw the line between being informed and being overwhelmed?

Andrea Coutu, commenting on her blog, Consultant Journal, noted how ironic it was that a recent post on another blog listed 50 ways to increase productivity. Not one, not two, not even five -- but fifty tips for increasing productivity.

Now, seriously folks, just how likely is anyone to absorb and implement all fifty tips (or even twenty-five). I know that I can't do it. When I find an article like that I'm lucky if there are one or two tips that I can use right away.

Sure, I always mean to come back and use the rest of the tips. But I seldom, if ever, do. I'm already caught up in the next list of helpful ideas.

Don't get me wrong. I love learning new things and I love ideas. Facts fascinate me. I'm a writer, so I love to read everything that I can get my hands on.

It's just that, as much as I'd like to, I can't possibly implement every good idea that I come across.

What can I do to gather the best from the sea of ideas and apply them to my business? Here are three (note only three, not thirty) ideas:

Focus on one area for improvement at a time. Search out tips and information for that area. For example, if I am going to upgrade the computer I am using for my home business I should mainly focus on information that has to do with getting a better computer.
Follow the advice of a few mentors. Pick a few people whose business experience you can trust. Check with them regularly. If they are a blogger, subscribe to their blog feed. Focus on applying mostly their ideas.
Become selective. When run across a humongous list of tips, pick only those that appear to be the best for your situation. Once you've determined which pieces of advice you'll follow don't procrastinate. Apply the selected ideas as quickly as possible (or you may never get to them).

What about you? Do you get more information than you can use? What do you do about it? Leave a comment and let me know what your thinking about information overload.

Devoted to WAHMs -Work at Home Moms

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