Info Grooming

The Upsides of No Power

Jane Plass — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 11:53:14 +0000

A recent storm took out power to more than 868,000 customers in the Chicago metropolitan area. I was without power for 57 hours, from 8:00 a.m. on Monday to 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. I counted myself lucky at that, as power wasn’t predicted to be restored until Friday at noon. A few customers didn’t get power back until Sunday morning.

A prolonged power outage is inconvenient, of course, especially as no power means no water from my well. Still, I discovered a few upsides of being without power:

I went to bed earlier (too hard to read much by flashlight!), got up earlier, and was able to exercise more and write more in the early morning hours.
I had limited Internet access from locations outside my home. I focused on handling just the most important e-mails.
The forced break from web surfing and social networking freed up time and eliminated information clutter.

I’m grateful to have the power back on, but also grateful for the break from information overload.

What’s the longest you’ve ever been without power? Did you discover any upsides?

Reconnect with Nature to Beat Information Overload

Jane Plass — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 03:34:56 +0000

One of the best ways to beat information overload is to take time to reconnect with nature. I spent the morning at my computer paying bills, updating a membership database, and writing a newsletter, but I took time this afternoon to enjoy the cold but sunny day. I like gardening, so I did cleaned up the yard and cleared weeds out of my vegetable garden. Signs of spring were everywhere—worms writhing in the soil, birds singing, and crocuses and snowdrops blooming. It was good exercise and a relaxing break after an intense week.

What’s your favorite way to reconnect with nature?

Celebrate Time Management Month

Jane Plass — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 11:00:18 +0000

Did you know February is Time Management Month? To mark the occasion, I’ve teamed up with other organization and time management experts to create a fabulous giveaway.

Just visit http://www.TimeManagementGiveaway.com to get your free tools on managing your time more effectively. You’ll discover resources on

Organizing your small business and office
How to save time and trouble for you and your business
Online time management strategies
Business systems and structures
Productivity tips
Using ready-to-go articles in your newsletter
Social media made simple
Office makeovers
How to get more done in less time
How to beat information overload (That’s my e-course Beat Information Overload the 5F Way, which has been newly revised for this giveaway.)
And more!

Everything is free. There’s nothing to buy. This isn’t a teaser offer where you only get to see what’s listed and then have to buy something in order to get the goods. But the giveaway event is only scheduled to run through Feb. 28, 2011.

Time is the one thing you can’t make more of. But you can probably make better use of the time you have. Use a few minutes now to check out http://www.TimeManagementGiveaway.com and pick up some great new ideas. Then let me know which giveaways helped you the most!

Task Management and Priority Setting by Using Questions

Jane Plass — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 21:51:16 +0000

When managing day-to-day tasks, it can be difficult to keep the big picture in mind. It’s tempting and natural to choose between tasks based on their urgency or on how easy they are to do. Yet keeping the big picture in mind is critical in setting priorities and making progress toward your vision and goals.

I’ve recently tried asking myself the following questions when choosing what to do, and I’ve found them helpful in setting priorities and keeping up my motivation:

Does this task, activity, or project align with my vision and goals?
What one thing can I do today to advance this project or goal?
Am I acting like the person I want to be?

With a few variations, these questions can also help you beat information overload. Every day, we face a flood of information through personal interactions, social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, blogs, e-mail, video, television, radio, and print. Filtering out unimportant information and focusing on the most important information is key to beating information overload. When you’re feeling overwhelmed with information, try these variations on the questions above:

Is this information necessary to work toward my vision or goals?
What one piece of information do I need to advance this project or goal?
Will this information help me become the person I want to be?

What questions have you found useful in managing your tasks and/or information? Please share them in a comment.

Beat Information Overload by Leveraging Your Learning Style

Jane Plass — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 00:25:20 +0000

People can learn in a variety of ways, but most of us have a preferred learning style. Learning new information is easier when you use your preferred style.

There are multiple ways to categorize learning styles, but one of the most commonly used is Neil Fleming’s VARK model:

Visual
Aural (auditory)
Read/Write
Kinesthetic

Visual learners learn well by seeing pictures and diagrams, watching videos, etc. If you’re a visual learner, try drawing pictures, flowcharts, or mind maps. Use multiple colors to highlight or underline important concepts. Practice recalling information by visualizing what your notes look like.

Auditory learners prefer to take in information by listening. If you’re an auditory learner, try downloading recorded lectures and teleseminars so that you can listen to them repeatedly. Read handouts and notes to yourself, or talk through them with another person. You can record significant points from your notes and listen to them later for review. Text-to-speech software may also work well for you.

The read/write preference is sometimes included as part of the visual learning style. However, learners who prefer the read/write style will learn best from text sources. If the read/write style describes you, try writing detailed notes when you need to listen to a lecture. Summarize pictures and diagrams in sentences. Make lists. Reread your notes repeatedly.

Kinesthetic learners learn best by doing something. If you’re a kinesthetic learner, find ways to apply and practice what you’re learning. For example, rather than reading a manual to learn new software, open the software, explore the menu, and create a practice document or file. Finding real-life examples, taking field trips, and making models are other good strategies, depending in part upon the topic you’re learning. If you write notes or draw pictures, be aware of how it feels as you do so.

You may have a strong preference for a single learning style, or you may have several styles that are comfortable for you (that is, you may be a multimodal learner). How can you tell? Reflect on your learning experience. Think back to times when you’ve found material especially easy or especially difficult to learn. How was that material presented to you? What strategies have you used successfully in the past? You can also find learning style assessments online. Fleming’s VARK website includes a questionnaire and other resources on learning styles.

By consciously using your preferred learning style when taking in new information, you’ll beat information overload by learning faster and more easily.

Make a Note of It for Next Year!

Jane Plass — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 19:59:15 +0000

Do you have tasks or procedures that you do only occasionally, perhaps just once a year? I tackled one of my annual projects recently.

I maintain the membership database for my hand spinning guild (Illinois Prairie Spinners). Before I produce the annual membership directory, I send members customized letters that list their current information and ask for updates if needed. I start by modifying the previous year’s mail merge template that pulls information from the membership database in Access. However, making these changes can be tricky, as there are nested IF…ELSE statements in the template. These need to be changed in several places. I also need to update fields and queries in Access. It’s difficult to remember the details from year to year. For example, does -1 in an Access query mean True or False? (True!)

So I was pleased to find my notes from last year’s verification project. I’d forgotten that I’d written them, but fortunately I had saved them where I would come across them this year. They saved me lots of time and frustration.

The next time you’re working on tasks you only do once in a while, take a few extra minutes to jot down some notes on your procedures. They don’t need to be elaborate, but record key steps or details that are difficult to remember or time-consuming to recreate. Save your notes where you will find them again easily when you next do the task. You’ll be glad you did! Eventually you may even want to develop your notes into a detailed written procedure, which could enable you to hand off the project to someone else.

Have you used this technique to save yourself time and frustration? Share your ideas by posting a comment!

Beating Information Overload with Paper Tiger Online

Jane Plass — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 16:23:51 +0000

As an information organizer, editor, and indexer, I’m always looking for new tools to help manage information. The recent release of Paper Tiger Online helped me reorganize my business files.

I’ve long used a paper-based numeric filing system for some files, so I already knew the advantages: multiple entry points to access files and the ability to set up folders in advance.

Paper Tiger Online offers these advantages, and others as well:

Searching and sorting. These are important features that will save you time. A paper-based system is limited to scanning the index, which often is not in alphabetical order. This is fine for small files, but becomes awkward and slow for large ones.
Keywords. Although some keywords can be used in a paper-based system, it’s easier to use more in Paper Tiger Online. This improves search results and makes it easier to find what you’re looking for.
Notes for additional information
Categories to group files
Ease of changing, updating, and reorganizing information
Ability to print indexes sorted by item number or by item name. These are handy for quick reference, and they can easily be reprinted when files are updated.
Access from anywhere with an Internet connection

My business files contain financial information, editing and indexing projects for clients, presentations on beating information overload, reports on getting organized for taxes and on beating information overload, other writing projects, other information specific to my Info Grooming business, and general business information. Here’s how I reorganized them with Paper Tiger Online:

One item for each client. The notes hold the titles of specific projects and the years they were completed. If I’m working on a project for the client, the item is also assigned the category Current Projects.
One item for each major information product (for example, Beat Information Overload the 5F Way)
One item for my articles published at Ezine Articles, one for other publications, and one for presentations. As my publications and presentations increase, I’ll add more items.
Items for financial information, including tax information, bank information and statements (one item for each account), annual income, and annual expenses. The latter are named Finances—2011—Income and Finances—2011—Expenses, so that they file together when sorted by name.
Other items specific to my business: activity reports, affiliate accounts, legal issues, plans and goals, service agreements, and web presence (for keeping track of web design decisions, keywords, statistics, etc.)
Items for general business information, including articles from magazines, printouts of web pages, etc.

The online video for Paper Tiger Online made it easy to get started, and setting up the files went quickly. It’s also been easy to make changes to fine-tune the system, such as changing item names and adding keywords.

I have many more ideas for using Paper Tiger Online:

Database for writing and product ideas. I currently use a spreadsheet for this, but Paper Tiger Online would provide more flexibility and make it possible to access this file from anywhere.
Conversion of my paper-based numeric systems to Paper Tiger Online. These include files for organizations that I belong to and for textile information (knitting, sewing, weaving, hand spinning, etc.).
Database for sewing and knitting patterns
Database for yarns and fibers in my “stash”
Database for favorite recipes and for recipes to try. The locations will be the cookbooks or other recipe sources, and keywords will include main ingredients, so I can find recipes that use specific ingredients.

These ideas are just the start. I look forward to exploring further uses for Paper Tiger Online.

Would an online filing system work for you? Add a comment, and let me know your opinion.

Honoring Those Who Acted for Freedom

Jane Plass — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 21:12:08 +0000

Honoring all those, past and present, who have acted to win and preserve our freedom, including our freedom of information and expression — soldiers, writers, artists, teachers, librarians, voters, statesmen, and more.

Beat Information Overload by Making the Most of Your Vision

Jane Plass — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 02:48:10 +0000

Eighty percent of learning is visual. As information increases, so does the demand on our visual system. Vision problems make it harder and slower to process information and so contribute to information overload.

You can take some simple steps to make the most of your vision:

Use good lighting. As we get older, the lenses in our eyes become less transparent, and pupils tend to be smaller. So we need more light as we age.
The human visual system is designed to be most relaxed when looking at a distance. We’re designed to be hunter/gathers who gaze into the distance, not office workers who stare at a computer screen for hours and hours. It takes effort to focus up close. Follow the 20/20/20 rule—every 20 minutes, look 20 feet away for 20 seconds. That will give your eyes a break from focusing. Blink a few times as well. We tend to blink less often when looking at a computer screen, which can lead to dry eyes.
Get an eye exam once a year to be sure your prescription is correct and to catch any signs of disease early. Some eye diseases, such as chronic glaucoma, don’t manifest symptoms until far advanced, when vision loss has already occurred. Systemic problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure can also affect your eyes.
Tell your eye doctor about your normal working distance for near work. The standard distance is 16 inches (40 cm), but your distance may be different if you are short or tall, spend more time reading from a computer screen than reading print materials, or have a job that requires clear near vision at a specific distance. Your near prescription can be adjusted to your typical working distance.
Losing your place frequently while reading or words running together may indicate that your eyes don’t work together as well as they could. Eye exercises (vision therapy) may help. If your eye doctor doesn’t do vision therapy, ask for a referral to a behavioral optometrist. You can also find out more about vision therapy and locate an optometrist through the Optometric Extension Program Foundation and the College of Optometrists in Vision Development.

Making the most of your vision will help you beat information overload by processing visual information more quickly, easily, and comfortably.

An Ocean of Information: Surf, Swim, and Dive

Jane Plass — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 03:06:14 +0000

Information is like the ocean. To avoid drowning in information, we need to learn when to surf the waves, when to swim, and when to dive deep.