🌼 Stop Adding More: How to Protect Your Time from Information Overload

Aug 17

Welcome to this Start Fresh mini from the Om WOW Podcast! Let’s reset our mindset and start the week with clarity and intention.

Listen to the short episode:

Episode #8: Transcript

I get overwhelmed and frustrated with the more, more, more-ness of this world.

Like every time I read a great business strategy book, the author points to must follow bloggers, books and podcasts. And it takes a while to read a book. It takes a while to listen to a podcast or read a blog, and I don't wanna add three to five more hours of reading to my week.

Sometimes it's just information overload. It's bloat. It's too much.

The One-In, One-Out Strategy

This goes back to my thought strategy with the kids when they were little and having tons of toys. I would always say if you get a new Barbie, you donate one. And with clothing, get a new pair of pants, donate one. Because nobody needs 50 pairs of pants or 20 barbies, and a toy shelf or closet can only hold so much.

Protecting Your Time with Purpose

Well, this is how I feel about protecting my time. I don't wanna spend time doing things that don't serve a purpose. Bringing me joy is a purpose. Relaxing is a purpose. Earning money for my family is a purpose. Nourishing my soul is a purpose. Connecting with God is a purpose. But for me, watching the news has no purpose. Either do these other things: following celebrities, playing video games or games on my phone, scrolling social media or YouTube, spending an hour on hair and makeup, and most of what's on tv. And this is just me. I'm not saying it's right or wrong. You're allowed to have your own opinions as we all are. But I appreciate short, succinct, and to the point information, the how to do whatever and the step by step of what to do to get X result. I don't always need to know why things work unless I'm super duper interested in a topic.

The Reality of Finite Time

I read this business book to learn how to grow my business. I invested in a specific curated stack of books this year to serve as my educational upgrade. I plan time to not only read each day, but to implement what I've learned. I know that subscribing to four new newsletters and three podcasts would consume at least four hours of my time each week.

I can't magically create four new hours, and I don't multitask when learning. So the only way for me to make room for consuming these new resources would be to remove four hours of activities I'm already doing in my life. You realize time is finite. And frankly, it feels like I'm already not finding time to fit in some of my prioritized activities each day. It's too much.

Different Seasons Require Different Priorities

I need to prioritize and choose what's best for me now in this season, and I encourage you to do the same. Not every season of life is the same. My life when I was raising two young children and homeschooling is way different than my life having a full-time job with kids already out of the house than it is now.

When I was building up my web design business, I was networking several times a week and attending a professional business class weekly. There was a time when that class was a very high priority and I didn't wanna miss it. And then over time that group devolved and became more about bylaws, discussions about growing the organization, hiring new IT people, debating organization politics…

And we were no longer learning anything. I remember driving home from the group one night thinking, why the heck am I spending three hours a week on this? How did tonight benefit my life? Because it no longer served a purpose.

Chatting with business friends for five minutes was not worth the half hour drive there, the two hour meeting and the half hour drive home. So I quit.

Slow Down Before Adding Anything New

Lately I've been reminding myself to slow down and evaluate each new thing before adding it to my life. Because let's face it, each new thing needs a time slot. And I need to decide if there's a lower priority thing I can stop doing either temporarily for this season or permanently to make room for the new thing.

Good vs. Better vs. BEST Choices

And I think about something I learned years ago about life. There are lots of good choices, lots of better choices, but wise people look for the BEST choices for themselves personally. You give up the good things to enjoy a best thing. An example of this in my life is skipping the hair and makeup most days and using that 30 to 60 minutes to read or journal. Reading and journaling are best choices for me. Your best choices will be personal to you.

Right now, I don't see room in my life to add three hours of anything each week. I mean, y'all realize I just started this podcast recently, right? Lemme tell you, a lot of work goes into this that you cannot imagine, but this is a priority for me, so I'm doing it.

Managing the Endless List of Possibilities

So having a sense of available time also helps reign in all the ideas about things it would be fun to create and my thirst for knowledge in all the various topics I'm interested in. Remember, time is finite here on this earth, in this body. The list of things I'd love to learn and create is gigantic.

They're all good in my opinion. I constantly have to remind myself to slow down before jumping into anything new. And then I ask myself, is this in alignment with my goals? When will I fit this into my life? Where does it go on my calendar? What will I need to remove to make room for it?

Permission to Abandon What No Longer Serves You

On another note, I also remind you that it's okay to abandon something you've started if it no longer serves you. Like the book on my desk right now, I took lots of notes from the first three quarters of the book and then found myself skimming. The author was talking about tactics for stages of business that I'm not at yet. They don't apply now. So rather than taking the time to learn this now, when it doesn't apply, I choose to implement the stuff I just learned, which is relevant right now.

Why don't you give yourself permission to do the same?

Less Bloat, More Value

This is part of why I am so adamant about creating and consuming content that is concise to the point and actionable. Bloat and fluff are a waste of my time and a waste of your time. Current marketing and SEO advice is to repurpose content, throw it up everywhere, rewrite old blogs with the same info, et cetera. Personally, my brain would appreciate one thorough blog post by an author rather than 20 wishy-washy, watered down blog posts that are all variations of the same thing. Less is more, in my opinion.

Drive Your Own Car

Other people may not approve or agree with your choices. I still remember this example from high school, from my driver's ed teacher. I'd be looking in my rear view mirror at the car behind me, and he would say, you're the one driving the car, not the guy behind you who's pushing you to go faster.

So, you know, if I wanna drive my car to the mountains or the beach, that doesn't impact where you can go with your car. Drive your own car! And likewise, be the driver and director of your own life.

Questions to Consider This Week

Here are some things to think about as you head into this week:

What are you still spending time on that isn't serving you anymore?
Are there any high priority things that you can't seem to fit into your life, and what would those be?
How much of your time is filled up with things that aren't a high priority for you?
Are there some things that you can stop doing to make room for the best things for you?

Remember, wise people look for the best choices for themselves personally. They give up a few good (or not so good) things to enjoy a BEST thing.

Lastly, I encourage you to slow down before you add anything into your life, any new activities, any new commitments, and really ask yourself, is this in alignment with my goals? When and where is this gonna fit into my life? And what am I going to remove to make room for it?

Have a great week and we'll see you in the next episode.

If this mini gave you a mindset boost, pass it on! Comment below & let me know— your energy makes a difference.

Meet Our Host: Jennifer Robin O’Keefe

Jennifer Robin serves as a relatable, down-to-earth, REAL Wellness & Success Coach. She’s not a fancy, perfect makeup, airbrushed kind of woman. She’s been told many times, in a variety of environments, that she’s easy to talk to, and makes others feel welcome and comfortable. Her mission in life is both simple and profound: to make others feel worthy.

Professionally, Jennifer holds several wellness certifications including Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) Tapping, Thought Field Therapy (TFT) Tapping, Reiki, and more. She continuously expands her knowledge in the fields of Qi Gong, Xien Gong, Vibration/Energy Wellness and Natural Health. She also studied extensively with Jack Canfield, and serves as a Certified Canfield Trainer, authorized to teach "The Success Principles."

She’s an active reader and researcher who loves to learn, and one of her biggest joys is teaching and sharing what she’s discovered with others.