Information overload (not just a case of bad time management)
There is a temptation when people are under pressure to come to the conclusion that if only they were clear about their priorities, if only they learned to distinguish the urgent from the important and if only they practised saying ‘No’ more assertively, all their struggles would be over.
But for many of us time management isn’t the issue. The real question is how, when the world is speeding up and we have information coming at us from every quarter 24/7, we stay ahead of the curve.
This is why the latest thinking technologies are so relevant. They help pressured executives to navigate their way through the sea of data with which they are faced, in order to get at the rich seams of knowledge that they need. They enable people to be proactive, to work smarter and take control of their lives.
Recently at Illumine we’ve brought some of these thinking tools together in an approach called INSEAK®, which is specifically designed to help people tackle information overload. In summary, this approach first enables people to make a fast assessment of any information that arrives on their desk; it then combines some of the core techniques of speed-reading with the skills of Mind Mapping both to help executives sift through all the information they receive and, more importantly, to harvest the knowledge that is essential to their work.
These skills - Speed-Reading and Mind Mapping – are quite distinct and can be learned separately, but when it comes to information overload there is specific value in combining them. Moreover, there is another skill to be learned here which is all to do with memory. It may be very well for people to learn how to navigate through the data smog that they face every day, but how can they recall the essential knowledge that they need later? Mind Mapping is one of the memory tools that can also help in this regard because it helps people to capture and code information in a way that is concise, personal and memorable.
So how well do all these techniques work? The answer is that they are used by thousands of people, from scientists and engineers to business executives and teachers. And they are used because they help people not just survive but thrive in the 24/7 knowledge economy.
Here is an example used by our Marketing Assistant when preparing for a telephone negotiation over advertising space. We keep one of these per publication so that the whole team can get a one page overview of the agreement in place (and other options available).
Regular updates – As a part of our ongoing commitment to sharing knowledge we often publish a number of articles that discuss practical thinking skills and the tools and techniques that we endorse and recommend. You can receive these articles in our “Illuminating Newsletter”. Take a look at www.illumine.co.uk/newsletters
Test your reading speed – You can test your reading speed using our Speed Reading Challenge at www.illumine.co.uk/testmyreadingspeed
Mind Map® and Mind Maps® are trademarks of the Buzan Organisation.
INSEAK® is a registered trademark of Illumine Limited.
Tags: Business Mapping (Training), Effective Speed Reading™ (Training), information overload
