Archive for The Personal Brain
CONTROL Information Overload – Learning
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That’s life-long learning. Because anything you know now, will be obsolete before you’ve had a chance to forget it.
So, basically, as soon as you know something, assume it’s outdated. Just keep learning. And, have strategies in mind for what you’ll learn and the timeframe you have to learn it.
For example, every year I tried to choose one area of my business to study. One year it might have been marketing, another it might have been business management. Naturally, I continued to learn new things about technology and how to use it to achieve goals every day. But, using the different hats I wore gave me a way to focus on the information that would benefit me the most at the time.
Now that I manage a dental practice, I find those strategies still work. I wear nearly as many hats in this job as I did as a computer consultant and trainer. One minute I’m doing bookkeeping, the next I’m solving a computer problem, and the next I’m explaining insurance benefits to a patient.
I also use those different hats and what I call just-in-time learning to manage the volumes of things I need to learn. I look at what I’m trying to do and figure out what I need to learn to accomplish those goals. Then, I learn it. I stay aware of what else is out there so if (actually, when) the unexpected comes up, I know what options I have to take advantage of new opportunities.
You may get tired of hearing it, but this is another way I’m using The Personal Brain to manage things. I put in all the topics I want to study along with either links to the information (online or on my computer) or paste the information directly into the program. I can even use it to keep track of books and other physical information.
What hats do you wear and how can they help you control what you need to learn?
Well, those are my strategies to take CONTROL of information overload. I’d love for you to share your strategies.
CONTROL Information Overload – Organize
Posted by: | CommentsOrganizing comes down to one simple (though not easy) rule – have a place for things.
Have systems in place in advance of acquiring a piece of information, an object, or whatever. Have a filing system that works for you – that means when you want to keep something, you know where to put it so you’ll find it again (after all, finding it again is the whole point to filing). That filing system is not only for paper, it’s for your electronic files as well. Most people I know have thousands of files on their hard disks and no clue what they have. The longer we’ve been using a computer, the more files we have. Have a system for organizing those files and for deleting the ones you don’t need anymore. (P.S. Don’t forget to back up all those files regularly!)
For a software program to help you manage your paper files (and just about everything else), you can’t do better than The Paper Tiger. I’ve been using it for years to keep up with my Action and Reference files especially.
I’m also experimenting with how The Personal Brain can help me be more organized. I’ll let you know if I make any progress.
But, don’t stop with paper files (and electronic files, of course). Organize your books, CD’s and DVD’s, supplies, and just about anything else you collect. I keep all of my software programs in notebooks (at least the ones that still come on disc). I have a file with all my software licenses. Recently, I organized all the pieces of hardware I’ve been collecting over the years (power cables, routers, USB cables, network cables, etc.). I can actually find what I need now!
What have you been struggling to find lately? What tools will help you create a place for things (before you need it)?
The Brain
Posted by: | CommentsAfter experimenting with The Personal Brain several times over the years, I have finally taken the plunge and started using it. If you want to see one of my first efforts, you can see the Endodontics brain I created. I’m working on one for my tips and tricks. I’ll let you know when it’s done. If you’re a fan of David Allen’s Getting Things Done, you may have seen this mentioned.
My biggest challenge is that I have information in so many places. I have tons in Outlook. Besides email, calendar and tasks, I use the notes to keep up with all those little tidbits of information. I use OneNote for articles, recipes, and other longer pieces of information. I have hundreds of bookmarks. And, I have different ones on my different computers. I’ve used MindManager mindmapping software. I have loads of pdf files, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, and just about every other file type out there.
My goal is to either put the information directly into the Brain or put links to the file. The program will let you either link to files or store them as part of the brain. I can also create links to Outlook items (email, calendar, etc.) and OneNote pages. So far, so good. It is going to take quite a while before I have everything (or nearly everything) in a brain, but at least it’s progress. There are some amazing examples on their website. And, they have excellent webinars and tutorials.
How do you keep track of all of your information?