Top 5 main takeaways:
Information overload is a common issue faced by business owners who are trying to absorb as much information as possible in order to achieve results quickly.
Information overload can lead to feelings of anxiety, frustration, and depression due to the lack of application and results.
The solution to information overload is to create space and time for oneself, allowing for proper application and digestion of the information.
Analogies, such as athletes needing rest to exercise and wood logs needing space to burn well, can be helpful in understanding the importance of space and time in learning and applying information.
Taking breaks and focusing on one thing at a time can help alleviate the negative effects of information overload.
The other day I was talking to a friend of mine about reading books, and I mentioned that I read a book every week or every two weeks depending on how thick the book is, what’s happening in my life, and how much time I’ve got.
He asked me if I get information overload, and if I get overwhelmed with all the information and the rest of it, and I said, No!
I did not give him a complete answer about how I do it so I’m going to share my solution with you. Hopefully, you can use it and apply it so you don’t get overwhelmed with the information and you’re not dealing with information overload.
Before I give you the solution let me dig a little bit deeper into the problem so you know what’s happening, and then I’ll share my solution with you.
In this day and age, we are getting bombarded with information on social media, online, offline email, through TV advertising, everywhere you go, you’re just getting bombarded.
As business owners, we are trying to get results, we want to get them as fast as possible. And sometimes we try to learn as much as we can so that we could get the results, which is a natural process and from time to time it works against us.
The problem with information overload
The problem with information overload Is it too much information gives us anxiety, it gives us frustration, and we get depressed because we learn too much.
That’s a result of learning so much and not applying it and not getting results out of it. So the brain goes, we spent so much time on learning this technique and 12 ways to become successful and whatnot, there are a million different things that we can read on, but I don’t see results.
It probably doesn’t work.
I’m depressed now.
I’m going to quit reading and learning.
Let’s just go do something different!
let’s go watch Netflix and have some, you know, snacks along the way.
What is the solution to information overload?
Here’s the solution,
The solution for information overload is creating space and time for yourself.
What do I mean by that?
If you’re getting information overload, and if you’re getting overwhelmed by the amount of information that you’re learning, I could guarantee you that you’re not applying the information. You’re just maybe trying to read your way to success, maybe you’re trying to learn your way to success, but there’s not much application in there.
Then, the brain goes, this is too much, I cannot handle this. And another problem is that we become an ocean of knowledge, about an inch deep and we really cannot make anything out of the information that we learn because we’re just learning different types of information and we can’t put it together.
What do I mean by giving yourself time and space?
Think about this:
Every athlete needs to rest to be able to exercise. So resting for them is just as important as exercising, if not more important.
If they don’t rest, they cannot exercise and play 24/7. If they don’t get enough rest, when they show up to compete, they’re just not going to be able to perform. So resting and relaxation, space and time, allows them to perform and apply what they’ve learned.
Another analogy that I learned and loved is burning wood logs.
Somebody said, or I read somewhere that it’s the space between the wood logs that allows it to burn Well. If you push them together and if you try to squeeze them all together, you suffocate the fire, a lot of smoke comes out and you won’t have a sufficient fire.
It’s not efficient, not sufficient.
It won’t burn well, and the smoke goes right into your eye.
It is the space and the time that gives you the ability to apply it, digest it, learn it, and make something out of it.
Every athlete needs to rest to be able to exercise. Resting for them is just as important as exercising, if not more important!
How do you give yourself time and space?
How do you create space? And how do you give yourself time, especially to your brain?
I mean, your brain just gets a lot of info and not making much out of it.
Here’s how I do it. Here’s my solution, you could try it.
I’ve shared it with my coaching clients, I’ve shared it with people around me. And It is working well. So here’s what I do. I alternated between nonfiction and fiction books. Right. So I just finished reading a book, called first make the beast beautiful by Sarah Wilson. It’s about anxiety. And that was a really good book.
Now I need time to digest the information. So now I’m reading a book by Dan Brown called Inferno. It’s fiction. It’s amazing, it’s engaging. It’s interesting, I love it.
The good thing about a fiction book is..
Now the good thing about a fiction book is that you’re not learning anything, you don’t have to digest anything, you don’t have to understand anything. Okay? All that is happening is you’re reading the text, and you’re imagining what’s happening, which is the beautiful thing about reading fiction is that your imagination senses and your fantasy senses are activated. And now your brain is imagining what’s happening.
Now, a positive side of that imagination practice is that, personally, when I read fiction books, my brain constantly comes up with new ideas, innovative ideas, creative ideas that I don’t even know where to come from. But, when I read a fiction book, especially fantasies, and sci-fi and those type of fiction, they definitely activate and trigger your imagination and fantasy part of your brain.
So it is really good, it’s very relaxing.
For me, it’s like a breath of fresh air because my brain just sits there and imagines things. It there’s not much responsibility with the information, maybe that’s why!
You’re Not responsible to apply. You are just reading, and if it’s interesting, you just keep going.
So try that and try to give yourself some time, sometimes I take a day or two off between my books so I could just relax and give my brain and myself some time until I start my next book.
That’s how I do it!
Anyway, give it a try and try to space out and create some space and time and give yourself enough time to learn information to digest information and make something out of it.
Reading fiction is very important and I learned it from another business coach. I’ve been training it since January this year. And it’s been really effective.
Everybody should read fiction, it helps us with our business. It’s not just reading a story. It’s not like kids’ stuff.
A lot of adults read fiction and it helps tremendously.
Try this and let me know how it works. If you liked the video/post, please hit like
If you know anybody that could benefit from this, if anybody you know is dealing with information overload, and they’re overwhelmed with what they’re learning, share this information and this video/post with them and let’s see how we can help them up.
All right,
Have a great day
