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DAVID BENTLEY'S COLUMN

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INFORMATION OVERLOAD

I've been cleaning out my closets. All those boxes and bags of papers, books, photographs, magazines, and assorted "stuff" that I've been squirreling away for the past year or more are seeing the light of day again. Every container has been opened, the contents remembered, and a decision made as to the final disposition of each item. The result has been astounding.

Following a strategy taught to me by my patron saint of housecleaning, I pulled everything out of my closet and divided it into three piles. The pile on the left was things I wanted to discard. The pile on the right was things I wanted to keep. The middle pile was everything else. When I completed that task, I then divided the middle pile into "keepers" and "eliminators."

What struck me as I worked was how many articles from newspapers and magazines I had saved to read or use at a later date. I literally filled three grocery bags with such material from one closet. In addition, I found so many books that I either had to take some to the used book store and the library sale or buy a new set of bookshelves.

The information in these books and articles was good information, but it wasn't doing me or anyone else any good hidden away in the closet. Even if I needed to use this information, the sheer volume of it and the lack of organization would have been overwhelming.

Neither my brain nor my closet can hold all the information that is available, no matter how good or interesting it is. Furthermore, information is only valuable if it is helpful at a given moment; otherwise it falls into the category of trivia. When I need information, I have no doubt that I will be able to find it in a library or on the internet. In the meantime, I'll refrain from overloading my brain and my closets.

  • Do you suffer from information overload?

  • Where do you store information?

  • What information are you willing to release?

  • How can you limit your information intake?

© 2002 David Bentley

David Bentley, M.Ed. & Personal Coach, coaches clients through the game of life, helping them find balance, clarity of direction, and purpose in an ever-changing world.

He can be reached by phone at 360.378.8436

by e-mail at david@coachbentley.com

or visit his Web site: www.coachbentley.com

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