Overcome Information Overload to Strengthen your business
Does information overload sometimes have you frozen in your tracks?
Are you paralyzed, by analyzing what to do next?
This is a good sign because that means you care enough to make sure you do a good job and you achieve your goals. You’re getting stuck in the information gathering phase or the execution phase. Keep reading so I can get you over that hump.
Keep moving or die; be a shark.
Paralysis of analysis kills productivity. It will keep you from starting your business. The 80% solution is better than no solution at all. Figuring out the problem so you can get at least get started, then adjust, is better than never starting at all.
I’m an avid seeker of information.
A lot of times, I know too much for my own good. Because of this, I’ve started this series where I question why some people who can start a business never actually get going? My research led me to find five reasons people get stopped in their tracks, and paralysis analysis information overload is one of them.
Ask yourself, how do you know that you’re suffering from paralysis of analysis?
Here are some signs:
You feel ambivalent about making a decision.
No decision excites you.
You have difficulty with long-term projects.
You keep procrastinating and putting it off or, worse yet, adding new projects that detract you from the old project.
You have a long list of unfinished projects.
Do any of these remind you of yourself?
You’re experiencing information overload.
You signed up for a million email chains and newsletters; you have paralysis of analysis. The worst of all, you’re multitasking at all times. I believe multitasking is a made-up word to make you think you’re being productive when you’re not.
It is just task switching. You’re moving from one task to the other. You’re not doing these tasks at the same time, you’re usually only partially doing them without finishing them. This ends up putting immense stress on you.
Here’s how you can overcome all of those and reverse the signs of information overload and paralysis of analysis.
1. Prioritize
The first thing you can do is prioritize.
List everything out in your favorite record-keeping app or write it down in your journal. Put it in your phone, write it on your tablet, write it on your laptop, and then prioritize. Decide what is most important and work your way down the list.
You have the most important one to start, and then the most urgent one to finish. Compare those things, and start working down the list. You may never get to the bottom of the list, and that’s OK. Your main goal was to at least accomplish the most important or most urgent goal.
2. Cut down your decisions
The second recommendation I have to prevent paralysis of analysis is to cut down the number of decisions you have to make.
You don’t have to have it all figured out.
I used to think I should know everything abuot everything I want to do. I would get overwhelmed with everything that I needed to do and all the things I needed to take action on. That overwhelm would lead to paralysis.
Sometimes though, all you need to do is get started!
Figure out what the 80% solution is. What do you need to start moving forward? Do that, then figure it out along the way. You have time, and don’t be afraid of failure.
3. Increase the friction of your distractions.
The third recommendation I have is to increase the friction of your distractions. When I say increase the friction, it means to increase the distance between you and the things that are distracting you.
If you are a social media junkie, a Netflix junkie, a TV junkie, a junk food junkie, whatever it is, increase the distance. If it’s junk food, don’t bring it to your house. If it’s television or Netflix, get it out of your immediate space.
Get it out of your place where you make magic, and you work. Get it out of your office. Get it out of your bedroom, because if it’s not there, you can’t do it. You can’t use it. You are eliminating the distraction.
Reduce the friction on the things you need to be doing.
Be prepared for the things you do want to accomplish. For example, if you need to be working out more, put your workout clothes right there on the table. If you need to be eating better, have healthy options set out on the counter. If you need to be working on your business and your business ideas, have your journal out, your laptop out, have your planner open to where you’ve allotted and put it on your calendar.
Allot that time to work on yourself and work on your own self-improvement to reach your greatness.
4. Set out your goals visually
The fourth recommendation I have for overcoming paralysis of analysis is to set out your goals visually.
Personally, I love vision boards. I picture exactly what I want in my life and use visuals to portray that on the board.
It inspires me. It gives me ideas. It connects the dots, and then I move forward from there—the visual expression. I’m a visual learner, and it does so much, you should try it. Picture exactly what you want and put it down on a vision board and see how it inspires you!
5. Fail forward
The fifth and final recommendation I have for overcoming paralysis of analysis is to fail forward.
It’s okay to fail. Failure is the Yin to the Yang of success. You can’t have one without the other. Your failures help you be successful. When you fail, you know what didn’t work. You then can learn from that.
Don’t be embarrassed. Forget what other people think about you. Fail forward, use your failures to improve the next time.
Conclusion
Information overload can cause paralysis of analysis. We get too caught up in learning and knowing extraneous information, which can prevent us from reaching our goals.
Get the basics. Find the 80% solution and then act. I hope this has inspired you. Now go fail forward. Reach your exponential greatness.