Focus on What You Need to Know

Are you tired of drowning in information? 

Spending hours or days learning something only to realize it wasn’t even necessary for your project or goals? Then hating to admit that to yourself…

Been there, done that. There were times I lost direction completely.

Some time ago I came to a game-changing realization.

I was lacking the ability to properly manage my attention. 

The world I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s was vastly different. That probably contributes to the problem.

It simply wasn’t as necessary to manage attention and filter information back then as it is now.

In today’s paradigm we are bombarded with fragmented bits of information from various sources. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with noise and not see a clear path forward.

Our natural human curiosity towards all kinds of topics makes it worse. 

So, what’s the alternative?

Knowing only what you need to know.

How?

Close the floodgates and learn something new only when the need arises.

For me this could mean spending lots of time to deep learn a new mastering tool I’ve invested in. Or it could mean taking 5 minutes in the middle of production work to figure out how to do something better.

The key is being conscious about what you’re taking in… 

Focusing all learning on something you’re working on…

And not needlessly ruminating on and confusing yourself with fragmented information that isn’t helping you one bit.

This approach helps you avoid overwhelm, gives you breathing space, and keeps your thinking leaner.

It makes things happen.

Because you are always focusing your mental resources on the task at hand and resolving problems related to it.

As with learning any skill, it took some practice over the past few years for me to adopt this new approach. 

I’m still not perfect (nor will I ever be).

But you know what? 

The results have already been significant.

That’s what matters.