How to Avoid Internet Information Overload and Conquer Internet Productivity

Today I got the Spring Cleaning bug and I found myself taking care of some digital file clutter and organizing my RSS Reader.  Taking small steps like these can help you conquer Internet productivity and avoid dreaded Internet information overload that will keep you unproductive.

As the savvy online small business marketer that you are, I know you are just like me…

• An online marketing fanatic
• A perpetual student who craves information daily
• And an insatiable hunger for that information

Consuming too much information, however, can be the Achilles Heel of any small business Internet marketer. (Check out my home-girl in the photo – we want to avoid her pain).

If you feel a bit overwhelmed by what you are learning online, no worries.  Below are some handy tips to help you avoid Internet information overload and feel mega productive in your online marketing endeavors.

The 4 steps to Avoid Internet information overload and Finding Blissful Internet Productivity

1) Get Focused – Set Goals & Prioritize

Set Clear Goals – Map Out Your Week Every Sunday.

What types of activities must you perform in order to reach your goals?  Write them down and categorize them (i.e. Money Producing, Relationship Building etc.)

While you are educating yourself and feeding yourself juicy online marketing information, stick to finding and reading the information that will help you hone a particular marketing strategy you are focusing on that week or month.  If you are learning how to build more traffic and get more readers to your blog don’t go looking for information that will show you how to create great ad copy.  Although, you should learn how to write effective ad copy, you want to stay focused on completing your goals.

Prioritize – Jot your “To Do” list somewhere visible i.e on your personal paper or online planner where you can readily see it.

From that list of weekly goals set small daily goals.  What’s the most important task you can start TODAY that will get you moving towards reaching one of your weekly goals?  Start on that most important one.

Set no more than 3 big “productive” tasks for the day.

When your “to do” list gets shorter, you have more space to “be.” -Christine Kloser in “The Freedom Formula”

When you realize all you have to do to remain productive is to determine what your high profile/productive tasks are and stick to them, you will realize that making that goal towards a 4 hour work day, is more readily obtainable!

Also, start working on the bigger tasks and knock them out first before moving on to other less important or minute ones.  If you don’t you can easily get sidetracked by email, or Internet surfing.

2) Set Clear Direction That Matches Your Online Intentions and Goals

Are you trying to learn too much at once?

Focus on a few online marketing strategies at a time.  And only focus on those activities that allow you to flex your strengths.

If you’re a phenomenal writer work on submitting articles and blogging, for instance, to build your online presence.  If you are not the best public speaker you may want to shy away from video.  If you’re okay at speaking but are camera shy, focus on doing screen capture “how to videos.”

It’s all about what you feel best at.  Working on your areas of strength will give you more confidence to continue hammering away at those marketing strategies and will help you see faster results.

3) Take action – Action is the Way to True Internet Productivity

It won’t do you any good to have your to do list and not start or finish.  Taking a small action towards completion of a goal will help.

Reflect back and see if your actions are in line with your goals.  Actions either move you towards or away from your online goals, so focus on the right ones.  If you are not sure what actions to take, by simply taking some kind of action, you will gain clarity and can refocus.

4) Stay Organized

As you quench your thirst for new information make sure to keep your digital files organized.  Just as having an organized office helps you remain productive, having an organized desktop or organized way of referring back to blogs you want to gather information will help you save precious time to do the things that are most important and profitable.

RSS – If you are subscribed to a dozen or more blogs via RSS you will want to use a Feed Viewer/Reader that will keep you productive.  The Feedly RSS Viewer is the best I’ve found to keep you super organized and able to find your favorite blogs in an instant.

Digital Files – Tidy and Organize Them

Hendry Lee of Blog Building U addresses information junkies in his Spring Cleaning Day post.  He writes:

Spend a few hours, or the full day if you will, to go through your pile or virtual pile of information and start the cleaning process. If you feel sure you will need the information in the near future, keep it. If it has to be kept in an archive, leave it. Otherwise, put it into the closet.  Yes, I have a folder on my hard drive with that name.

Stuff in that folder can be deleted after 6 months without use. If you create a new subfolder inside the “Closet” folder, you will be able to sort by creation date and know for sure when was the last time you put your files in the bin.

For any piece of information that you keep and perhaps want to take action later, write down in your someday or may be list (if you use GTD) so you know your plan.

Resist the temptation to save stuff unless there is a strong reason for doing so.

Actually, there’s one more thing that may help too…

Reward Yourself: Once you get one task completed take a break. Exercise, meditate, or watch 30 minutes of something enjoyable to refresh your mind and remain sane!  Play time can really help keep you productive.

What things help you stay organized and in the zone?  Share them with us.

We appreciate you!

More on Information Overload:

Dali Burgado’s Hub Page on Internet Information Overload

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About The Author

Dali Burgado, also known as "The Dali Blogger" teaches creative entrepreneurs how to carve a web presence that connects with their Inner Guru and their target audience. Her first online marketing love is SEO. She's an avid connector on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. When she's not coaching or teaching, she's tweaking sites for Search Engine Visibility, working on her PHP and Javascript coding skills, Singing Opera, or learning about gardening. Circle Dali on Google+