Information Overload:  Cutting Through The Garbage

Dec. 21, 2009 - PRLog -- A recent University of California, San Diego study revealed Americans are bombarded with 34 GB of information per person each day. In one five day work week that adds up to a lap top's hard drive worth of information!

Numerous studies performed over the last 40 years have linked Information Overload to procrastination, stress, depression, even physical illness. For many, too much information can be just as bad as too little.  It can actually paralyze or confuse decision making rather than help.

In addition to the negative emotional and physical effects of information overload, there seems to be a monetary negative as well.  Lost productivity.  One calculation by Nathan Zeldes of Intel put Intel’s annual cost of reduced efficiency due to information overload at $1 billion.  Another unconfirmed source speculates the combined figure to be as high as $1 trillion dollars annually for companies across America.

Educator, author and The World's Fastest Reader, Howard Berg says, “The human mind has the ability to process much more information and at a much higher rate than most people realize.  The brain's function is similar to a computer.  When you learn how to approach data correctly, you can create a flow for learning and recalling information to help alleviate stress and anxiety due to information overload."
 
Berg says you can't waste your time trying to learn everything you hear or see. He explains, “You need to quickly determine if what you're seeing or hearing has value to you and your interests.”

So how does the Word's Fastest Reader process information?  With the ability to read at 25,000 to 30,000 words per minute, Berg knows a thing or two about learning what's important fast.

Here's one of Howard's tips to help you avoid Information Overload:

When you are gathering information or studying, whether it's on the Internet, in a book, video, or lecture think about the subject and what you want to learn.

Ask yourself the questions you want answered before reading, listening or watching information on what you want to learn.  Why should you ask yourself questions on a topic you may know little about?  When you ask good questions, your brain will set out to find the answers. 

Your brain can act much like a search engine on the web.  Feed your personal search engine (your brain) the search questions and it will automatically try to find the answer within the text you are reading, what you're hearing or what you're viewing.  Once you tell your brain to find the answer to your question, it will continue to look for the answers from sources all around you.

Here's an example:  Have you ever awakened in the morning with that great "aha - why didn't I think of that before" moment?  While you were sleeping, your brain continued to search for the solution to the problem or question you were pondering before you went to sleep.  It's almost magic how the brain continues to process 24 hours a day to feed you the answers to your “searches”.

Berg suggests seeking out learning strategies that are friendly to how the brain processes data.  “When you work with your brain's natural abilities versus working against it - you will start turning information overload into information assets.”

Howard Stephen Berg is a trusted news source on the subjects of information management, speed reading, and memory strategies. He has appeared on national media outlets such as, Fox News Channel, Fox Business News, Forbes FYI, Men's Health, Redbook, The Bottom Line, as well as other national and regional news and entertainment outlets.

# # #

Howard Berg is a college prep school director, learning expert, speed reading expert, author and the World's Fastest Reader. His blog www.mrreader.com is full of resources for professionals and students interested in how to learn more efficiently.