At the same time, most of us are awash in information – avalanches of email, letters, journals, books, articles, reports, web sites, paperwork that come our way each week. Knowing that, in order to be effective, we need to sort through the mountain of information and extract the most important nuggets, how do we approach the climb?
Some information-overload strategies tout speed-reading as one be-all and end-all. We hear of executives who, ever quantitative in their focus, boast about reading more than 30 journals and a number of books each month. And speed-reading advocates, selling their "how-to" workshops (or justifying their participation in the same), insist that you can zip through and actually retain all of the information.
...but why would you want to do that?
Exactly. Why would you want to speed read? Like eating too fast just so you can sample all of the foods on the buffet table, all it will likely give you is info-indigestion. The better bet is to survey the buffet, know what food you like and feel like eating, and then focus on a few offerings so you can fully enjoy each morsel and benefit from the nutrition and energy it provides.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m all for efficiency, and think information-scanning has its time and place. However, being able to scream through a vast quantity of information isn’t always necessary, and neither is it wise or efficient. It’s like someone boasting that they work 70 hours per week because they think it sounds impressive, yet a mindful, organized person would be able to actually produce more in half the time. Like the saying goes, just because you can do more, and do it fast, doesn’t mean you should, or need to.
A better approach?
A more mindful and effective approach is to be clear about your key priorities and primary interests, use scanning to get through the piles and determine what of the information is actually relevant to you, read and mindfully digest the most important material, and toss or pass along the rest. Yet again, we make the distinction between a focused, qualitative approach versus a broad, quantitative approach.
For example, if your weekly or monthly priorities are researching and giving an important presentation, discussing performance issues with a problem employee, reviewing and approving a project report, and wanting to find tips for dealing more effectively with information overload, you would:
- identify your priorities for that day, week and month,
- chunk it down into daily and weekly activities,
- assign time slots for reviewing information on various priority topics,
- sort through your journals and other information,
- respond to those inquiries that require an immediate response,
- read through articles (online, print or otherwise) that are about the issues of greatest interest to you first,
- make notes that will help you deal with your priority issues, and,
- either toss or pass along the rest of the information to others who can benefit from it, or save it for your "if I have an extra 30 minutes this week, I’ll read it" file (which you’ll toss or pass along if you’ve not read it by the end of the week).
The main gist? Get clear about your true priorities, and let that guide your actions throughout any given day, week or month. And remember: If you really have a need for information on another topic that crops up, you’ll no doubt be able to track down what you need at the time. Being clear and mindful saves you time and energy, and allows you to be more effective than a scattered, quantitative focus ever could.