5 Practical ways to win, by converting Information overload to knowledge
We all know that we have loads of information around us. A youngster today spends an average of 2 hours everyday on Internet. And that’s just internet, plus, TV , Radio, Books, School / College and phones, makes up a total of 5 hours daily. And what has this done to us? Well, nothing more than the fact, that average attention span of a human being has become 8 seconds now, which is even lower than a goldfish !
Everyday, we consume loads of information, but unfortunately, it doesn’t get converted to actual knowledge. For the starters, an Information, is just some data, presented in a form that you can understand, however, knowledge is when you are able to use that information in any which way possible.
So, what to do? How do I convert this information into knowledge? The first like in any case is to know what you want to do. The first thing is the realisation, that yes, we are in the age of Information overload, and yes, I want to do something of that information. Once, you realise this, you can then move on to the steps mentioned below.
- Take Action: As it’s rightly said, “An ounce of action is better than a ton of theory” — It can’t be more relevant than today. We see a lot of noise all around us. The youngsters today are doing all kind of revolutions mostly on Internet. Everybody. has an opinion but nobody has a solution. But, the most important step to convert your information to knowledge is to act upon it. Take the first step, go out in the market, make something, do something, Don’t just talk about it. The moment you start taking actions, you start converting your theory to practical. And that’s when magic happens.
- Make a Focus list: Has it happened with you, that you started your day on the social media, and spent 3 -4 hours just hopping from one article to another, and one video to another, just realizing it later, that you wasted your time and achieved nothing?
Accept it, you can’t focus on everything all the time. In this age of click bait headlines, everybody is looking for your attention and more than ever, your attention has become the currency that every one wants to own. But, unfortunately, we only have as much attention available, we only have limited energy and studies have shown, the more you focus on multiple things, the worst your attention span becomes.
Therefore I suggest, you make a focus list. This is not a To-Do list or a productivity list. This is a list of things you personally want to focus on. It could be startups, business, health, personal development or anything else under the sun. This list will help you focus on the things that matter to you. Otherwise, you’ll just keep moving from one article to another and you’ll end up wasting your time doing nothing.
3. Productivity tools: Okay, so now you have decided, that you want to take action, and you have also decided your focus areas, but you are still struggling with you click bait headlines and short videos that take up all your time. Yes, I also used to struggle a lot with these, but I have realised, that you can’t blame everything on others right. You will have to build your own will power to enhance your productivity. Today, more than ever, there are so many productivity tools available to help you boost your productivity and get the most out of your day. There are a few hacks that I personally use to enhance my productivity, which I am sharing with you.
a) Make a To-Do list everyday, even on Sundays. This will help you focus on key objectives.
b) Disable Notifications of all Social Media on your phone — This will help you keep focused on the task at hand. You can also put your phone on airplane mode if you are on an important task.
c) 2 Minute Tasks — Make a list of tasks that can be completed in under 2 minutes and do them first — This will help you checkout major items from your list.
d) 60–90 minutes blocks — Work in 60–90 minutes blocks and then take a break after that. This will keep you energized as well as focused.
4. Social Media and Mobile Detox — Yes, this is very important. As I mentioned earlier, we are in a constant rush of doing things and since our attention span is so low, we keep moving from one thing to another. This leads to anxiety and stress. In order to get rid of this anxiety, take a break from Social Media and Mobile phones for some time. Think of it like a retreat, when you are not bothered about clicking pictures while on a picnic, where you are not bothered about tweeting your thoughts and where you are not at all bothered about which policitical party is winning. Sometimes, take a vacation without a phone, sometimes take your kids out for a stroll, without bothering about your mobile phone or social media. Make friends in your neighbourhood, or take up a sport. All I am saying is fix up a routine, may be one a quarter and take a break from your regular mobile calls and social media. Mark my words, World will still be the same.
5. Learn to say NO to yourself — You would have heard this a lot of time, that one should learn to say NO and one should learn to delegate. More than to other, learn to say NO to yourself. A lot of times, I have seen people getting stuck because of themselves, not because of anything else. Sometimes, it’s YOU, yourself who is not able to say no to a lot of things. For example, a movie at the prime time, becomes more important than the report. A drink or two with friends, becomes more important than family dinner or possibly a sleeping those extra 3 hours becomes more important than hobby project you wanted to start this Sunday. Take a step back and learn to say No to yourself. When you’ll say No, you will be able to take time out to take actions. You’ll be able to do more.
6. Meditation: Yes, I know I have mentioned 5 in the headline, but it’s good to give something extra sometimes :) and moreover, I don’t really count this as a step, Meditation is a way of life. So, take out time everyday to Meditate, even if it’s for 5 minutes. Those 5 minutes will clarify a lot of things for you. I know it’s difficult, but take up a challenge. Take a 10–20–30 or a 100DaysChallenge and do it earnestly, you shall be a different person in those 100 days.
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This is #Day5 blog of my #100dayschallenge.
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