One Effective Way I Manage My Information Overload

While we are overwhelmed with ideas and tasks, we all struggle with perfectionism and procrastination — mainly because we want to capture everything in one system.

Scary, right?

The ability to organize all of the work that I read and learn allows me to create my blogs, YouTube video scripts, and book summaries.

Everything is possible if all these things blocking me were eliminated. What amazes me the most about this subject is that information overload has become an accepted and regular part of everyday life.

We accept that we have too many things on our minds nearly all the time. Moreover, we’ll be interrupted continuously by one emergency after another, and that we have no choice but to put up with it all.

I know there’s another way.

I’ve seen people make the shift time and again. Let’s look into the method or the workflow that has worked for me.

My Productivity Workflow — only six steps.

It’s not rocket science. It’s pretty easy. It worked thousands of years ago, and it works today.

1. Write everything that comes to your mind: David Allen says, ‘our minds are for ideas and not for retaining them.' I have created a workflow where I jot down any thought or idea, or task that comes to my mind (using either Evernote or Drafts app). This way, I do not forget anything , and my thoughts, tasks and ideas are always available to me.
2. Identify the active tasks right now: the best way is to prioritize your tasks based on the Eisenhower method. It works. I keep penning down my thoughts all day on my preferred app or computer and spend 15 minutes every evening to schedule them based on my Eisenhower prioritization. This helps me immensely in the task sequencing and picking the top 3 tasks that I wish to complete.
3. Choose which tasks need to be done today: break them based on the effort required. Any job that takes 15 mins or less — do it right away.
4. Block your calendar: tasks requiring 30 mins or more — use the calendar blocking method or a few suggested hacks around it. I use Google Calendar (this needs no introduction) for all my calendar blocking needs.
5. Do one task at a time: complete one job before moving on to another. One of the most effective techniques is the Pomodoro method.
6. Re-schedule and repeat tasks: every time you have any emergencies or any of your calendar-blocked tasks must be re-scheduled. Yes, this is one activity I do not prefer, but sometimes, our priorities change. I review my calendar every evening and plan for the next day.

Final Thoughts And Observations.

The 6 step process is an excellent tool that keeps me on track and productive every day.

In my experience, most people miss the most crucial part: the more straightforward your daily work must be, the more sophisticated the underlying system should be. What allows you to have a clear mind and make your day effortless is to have an external system managing the details.

The workload resides in my systems, not my mind, so it can grow as large as it wants without affecting my stress level or peace of mind. It’s not just an app. It’s a system of apps, habits, techniques, and mindsets working together.

If you make the change, you’ll be amazed at how much bandwidth you gain back.

You’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish when your biological brain is not burdened by TMI (too much information) and FOMO (fear of missing out) it creates.

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