Turning Info Into Knowledge and Productivity (For Business Owners)
If you feel like you’re living in a firehose of information, you’re not alone – and you’re not wrong, either. People send about 294 billion emails a day, and 4 million gigabytes of info on Facebook… not to mention all the other platforms and more traditional media pumping out information.(1) In 2011 we took in about 5 times as much information as we did in 1986, and back then social media wasn’t the juggernaut that it is now. (2)
The problem is not only that there’s too much information, there’s also misinformation and disinformation. Even with info that’s true, it’s not knowledge – it may not be relevant to you. And when you pay attention to every random bit of information, it’s harder to sort out what’s important and what’s not. It also tires out your brain, making you less productive.
The answer? Although more (relevant) knowledge is better, less information is also better. Weeding out the irrelevant and just plain wrong info so that you only have access to “the good stuff” is less stressful and helps boost performance and productivity.
But how do you get there?
Be more productive with a moat around your attention
Every animal has an attentional filter that filters out details that aren’t necessary for the current task. Squirrels focus on acorns, dogs focus on squirrels, and people need to focus on making good decisions. Etc.
You’re not aware of the filter, it just happens within your unconscious brain. It’s why you can drive from work to home without remembering anything of the drive - since you’ve done it so many times the deets are filtered out. You can also adjust this filter to open up for opportunities.
When I first moved to LA, I knew I wanted a little Mazda Miata to drive. As soon as I made that decision, all of a sudden I saw Miatas all around me. It wasn’t that the roads had suddenly filled up with them, but my own attentional filter had widened.
That’s also why business coaches talk about visualizing the goal or paying attention to more positive language. Those details start making their way through the filter, and you reap the benefits.
Your attentional filter only goes so far, though. You’ll need to add some boundaries to slow the firehose that’s coming at you so not everything gets through. Turning off social media notifications is a good start – always being aware of the platform isn’t going to move your business forward.
Here’s another way to think about it: your focus is the queen or goddess of the castle, and all the info is on horseback. Some of the riders have info that your goddess needs to make decisions, but most of them are her enemies.
You can put a moat around that castle that serves as a barrier to interruptions, and only lower the drawbridge across the moat once you’ve determined that a specific rider will be welcome. No other riders get in.
Boundaries for information make you more productive
Decide how much media you want to consume. I have several online newspapers that I subscribe to – one national (WaPo) and two local, LB Post and LA Times, plus some other newsletters and news magazines. You don’t need to watch the news all the time, because then you get more noise than signal. That goes double, or maybe quadruple, for financial news.
You also don’t need email interrupting you all the time. If you want to be maximally productive, you should turn off email notifications all the time. Have an autoresponder that tells people you received their email and the times of day that you check it.
If you can’t turn them off all the time – well, you can but you don’t want to – at least turn them off during the time you’ve designated for intense, concentrated work. You won’t be maximally productive, but this will help you get more of the important work done.
What do you think boosts productivity in the workplace – being tired or having energy?
Duh, right? And yet so many people still do the things that wear the brain out.
So-called multitasking – it’s not a thing (read why here) but attempting it is tiring
Switching between tasks that aren’t like each other
Trying to grind through for hours without taking a break
“Taking a break” by scrolling through social media feeds or reading emails
Making relatively unimportant decisions like what to wear and what to eat on the fly all the time
Recap (tl;dr):
We’re all awash in info but most of it is not helpful, wrong, or just irrelevant. You need to make boundaries to avoid being overwhelmed and wearing your brain out.
Having trouble with the focus goddess in your castle? We might be able to help; schedule a free consultation so we can decide if we’re a good fit for each other.
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