Do you spend the day looking for information without doing anything really productive? When you have a new project or business in mind and don't know where to start, it is normal to start looking for information first of all.
Information is useful and, of course, the Internet offers infinite possibilities. The danger?
- Deviate from your goal. You start to follow links to other unrelated things and end up losing mid-morning, feeling guilty and delaying the most important thing. Having so much information that you end up just as lost as before and over burdened and paralyzed. It is what is known as “analysis paralysis” or infoxication and, since you don't know what to do, you keep looking!
What can you do to get out of this situation? First of all, don't feel guilty, we are all human and it is human to waste time from time to time; But, do something about it. It is in your hands to control the time you invest in the analysis. You could for example:
- Open a single tab in your browser or, if you find yourself unable, limit the number. The more you have open, the more difficult it will be to focus using a stopwatch. If you are going to distract yourself by looking at something unrelated to what you are dealing with or something that is not very productive, at least control the time, schedule five minutes and when the alarm sounds, back to the important thing. Do the important thing first, without opening no other program or tab before and after give yourself permission for less productive things.
You will see how you advance much more in this way.
The second point is to look for information that is worthwhile. There is no doubt that the internet is wonderful and you can find everything, but the bad thing is that sometimes it is difficult to discern what is worth and what is not. That is why it is important that you seek information or help from someone who knows what she does, who is dedicated to it, who is where you want to be, be it an institution or a person. For example, if you want to establish yourself, the chamber of commerce is a good place to inform you of the necessary steps. If you want to dedicate yourself to giving motivational talks, talking to someone who is dedicated to that will help you more than giving sticks in the dark (a great example is Alfonso Alcántara). You want to get more juice out of Facebook, find an expert (Andreas Schou and Amy Porterfield are my favorites). No need to reinvent the wheel,learn from someone successfully, read their books, their blog, hire them (the investment you will make will ensure better results than spending days looking for free information online.)
Of course, whether you're already paralyzed by information overload or haven't started searching yet, the main thing, as always, is to determine what your goal is. What are you looking for information for? The more specific you are the better. Stop to think about what exactly you want to know and if not, it would be more useful to speak to an advisor who saves you time and mistakes.
It is important when you have a project in mind to look for information, either to get ideas or inspiration or to know what to do. But not any type of information or all the possible and available, but what you really need and a reliable site or person. How do you know what is reliable? If you successfully carry out what you are looking for. That you have done a coaching course and wonder if you can live from it, look for someone who lives from it. That you work in a company and want a position of greater responsibility, look for someone with that type of position. If you are looking for ideas for an online business, look for an expert in online business. That you just want to see website ideas to design yours, try not to spend the whole day, schedule a certain time so as not to focus your efforts on something that does not give results or take you out of inactivity.
And above all, don't forget, it is the action that generates results, so get going. Too much analysis leads to paralysis as you follow where you are. Find what you need but get going as soon as possible and go correcting as you go. You know, instead of the typical "aim, shoot, fire", the alternative that gives better results: "Shoot, aim, fire".
What are you paralyzed about right now, and what are you going to do about it?
