Simplifying Information

By Beth Dargis

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I love to learn. Information is like catnip to me. So in order not to drown in information, I have had to systemize things.
Library Books

For instance, when I get library books, I look at how many pages the book is and how many days I have before it is due. I divide how many pages by how many days to find out about how many pages I need to read a day. Then I write that number on a small piece of paper, which becomes my bookmark. I don’t necessarily read that exact number of pages each day, but I try to stay close or I know I won’t finish the book on time.

If I do the calculations before I get the books out, I can prevent myself from getting too many books out at one time. Sometimes I’ll bring home a nice stack of 6 books I am curious about and I find out there is no way I can read them all.
Books

I keep a stack of 5 books that I am reading. I can’t get out a new one to read, until at least one in the pile is done. If I don’t do that I have a lot of half-finished books. I already do from before I implemented it, so I am using this system to go through the back log,

However I don’t force myself to finish any books I don’t find interesting. If I don’t want to finish it, it will move to my give away pile.
E-books and Courses

I also like reading things online. Once a week on Tuesdays I take about 15 min to an hour to read an ebook or do a course. I take notes so I can delete the book when I am done. I only keep a few on my hard drive.
Email newsletters

I keep a separate bulk mail folder in my gmail account, so the newsletters don’t distract me from work by calling to me from the in-box. Once a week, on the weekends I can read the newsletters.
Implementing

With so many great ideas, I need a place to store them before I try them. I have a file folder called Implement that has ideas from magazines, pinterest, book notes, etc. Then once a week or once a month I pick one or two ideas out to play with.