In my newsletter last week I included a link to an article I recently read on one of my favorite blog sites, Copyblogger.com.

The article, "5 Ways to Kill Information Overload and Start Making Progress With Your Marketing" really engaged me.  One of my biggest personal struggles is focus.  I love to consume information (Strengthsfinder 2.0 puts "Learner" in my top 5) and it's easy for me to get caught up in the research stage of a project.  Formulating a plan and taking action is a step that is a challenge for me to get to when I'm having so much fun reading and studying.

The article helps readers address this very issue.  There is more information available now than ever, and much of it is free.  This abundance of information can make it even harder to know when to stop reading and get moving.  The article focuses on marketing, but the principles can be applied to anything.  I encourage you to read the article (and sign up for the Copyblogger email list), however in the meantime I want to share my main takeaways --

1.  Buy/Read each new book with a specific goal in mind.  When you decide to read a new business/self-help/marketing book, state the specific reason you want to read it.  For example: "To Learn about split testing in order to improve my article headlines."  If you can't come up with a specific reason, shelve the activity for some other time.  You can purchase/download the book in the future, when you really need it.

2.  Re-read valued books you already have.  Instead of buying new books to read about the same topics, re-read books you've already read and enjoyed.  For example one of my favorite books is David Meerman Scott's "The New Rules of Marketing and PR" which is about 2 years old now.  I talked about this book for months after I read it, to as many people as would listen.  It made a huge difference in my life and my business.  I now plan on re-reading that book before I buy another one on the same topic.

3.  Be specific with your To Do items.  Create specific, achievable objectives, broken down into discreet action steps.  This is really important.  Putting "use split testing to improve my blog" is not specific enough to take action on.  However, "develop two headlines for next blog post" is an actionable task.

Obviously this applies specifically to books and other lengthy, time-consuming content such as membership programs like "Learn X in 1 Hour a Day."  Taking a few minutes to think about why you need the information and what you are going to do with it can not only save you much time, it can get you to your goals way faster.