We’ve all been there — what begins as a quick Google search suddenly spirals into a multi-hour deep dive through an endless sea of tabs, articles, and conflicting opinions.
Before you know it, you’re buried under so much information that you simply lost track.
This happened to me when I moved to the U.S. and started researching everything from visas to how to build my credit score without a U.S. bank account, etc.
What began as a simple quest to get my paperwork in order turned into an obsession with understanding every single aspect of life in the States.
I have a tendency to want to understand it all.
So I spent way too much time digging through almost all the information available, government websites, blogs, etc.
I learned a lot while doing this however, was my time invested wisely?
Simple answer is no!
As someone who prides herself on managing knowledge efficiently, this experience was an important one. I thought I knew better, but here I was, off-track and wasting time and learned a valuable lesson about not being able to learn it all.
The amount of available information is infinite, and it’s incredibly easy to get lost in it and we need to accept to be okay with a certain level of uncertainty.
Information overload happens when we’re faced with more data than our brains can process.
Even me, in my role as Knowledge Management Expert, I’m not immune to getting overwhelmed at times.
How to manage this digital avalanche ?
5 Strategies to stay focused
I want to share a few strategies that have worked for me — whether you’re trying to figure out a major life move, a new project, or just doing basic research.
1. Start with Clear Objectives
This is probably the most important piece of advice I can offer. Before you start researching, take a moment to define your goal.
2. Set Time Limits
It’s easy to fall into the trap of endless scrolling. To avoid this, set a time limit on how long you’ll spend researching any given topic.
3. Filter the Noise
Not all information is created equal. Learn to filter the noise and focus on the most credible, relevant sources.
4. Pause and Process
When you’re deep in research mode, it’s tempting to just keep going — clicking link after link, trying to absorb as much as possible. But your brain needs time to process all that information.
5. Get Comfortable with Uncertainty
One of the reasons we drown in information is the desire to have all the answers before making a decision. But here’s the truth: you’ll never have every single piece of the puzzle. At some point, you need to make a decision with what you’ve got, and trust that you can handle whatever comes next.
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About the Author
Hi, I am Liesa, the founder of Witt Collective, consultant and coach specialized in knowledge and process management.
I am an advocate for simple and innovative solutions that are driven by creativity, made for humans to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
You can connect and collaborate with me.
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