Information overload (aka information flood or information asphyxiation) is a term that is usually used in conjunction with various forms of computer mediated communications. It refers to the state of having too much information to make a decision or remain informed about a topic.

Fighting the data asphyxiation is difficult, but not impossible.

The typical business manager is said to read one million words per week (the equivalent of one and a half full length novels per day).
A Sunday edition of the New York Times has more information than the average 19th-century citizen accessed in his entire life.
Think about these facts…

The information overload has become a worldwide issue, affecting more and more people each year. Its symptoms are the following:

• Increased cardiovascular stress, due to a rise in blood pressure;
• Weakened vision (a Japanese study predicts a nearly-universal near-sightedness in the close future);
• Confusion and frustration;
• Impaired judgement;
• Decreased benevolence to others;
• Constant feeling of tiredness;
• Short attention span;
• Constant feeling of helplessness.

There is a common piece of wisdom which holds that any given fact can be twisted to fit one’s needs. And it’s totally true. Let’s take the global warming issue as an example. It is really such a great threat to our lives or not? The answer, of course, depends on whose report you read, and there are so many reports emerging on a constant basis that one is left not knowing what to believe. This is a condition that is sometimes referred to as “paralysis by analysis”, and it may account for some of the decline in the American (and not only) health.

The web presents huge amounts of information to its users, cable and satellite TV offer dozens of channels of meaningless drivel and the newspapers and magazines also try to feed us with lots of information. The problem is that our brains didn’t evolve as much as the communication methods and information quantities have grown.
The key decision that one has to take is: “when do I have enough?”.

Because we can’t look at everything, we’ve got to establish some boundaries and deadlines, we’ve got to recognize what quality is and filter all the information coming our way. In short, we have to take control.

Key to information management is focusing on the quality of the data that you receive. Decrease quantity, increase quality.

Do help you do that, I’ve compiled a short list which can serve as a guide in your information management process.
What to do:

1. Starting with the obvious: decrease quantity, increase quality.
2. Be careful with your phone time. Call only with planned discussions and teach your friends and family to do the same. It’s important to keep calls short and focused.
3. Get organised, clean your desk. Continue Reading �

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So you want to be happy. I knew it. The following tips are tried-and-tested, and I’m more than happy to share them with you.

We all know that our health is being affected by the degree of happiness we feel in our lives. The happier we are, the healthier (and wealthier) we get. So, starting now, make the decision to be happy! Use these tips as a self motivation exercise to help you acquire the necessary self motivation skills which will help you on your path to happiness.

1. Be grateful. Take some time to thank the bus driver for taking you to your destination safely, thank the mailman for bringing you your mail each day, thank everyone that helps you. It will make you feel different inside.
2. Laugh. Laugh as much as you can. Laughter is known to be the best medicine for everything. If you know a good joke tell it to your family and friends. Also, try to see the humour in your own habits. We all have some peculiar ones.
3. Exercise. Go to the gym, swim, play tennis or do something that stimulates the endorphins release in your body. By exercising regularly, you change the way you think and your body chemicals. You will also start to look better and be more confident in you and your body.
4. Leave the news for what it is. News is stressful. More than 95% of it is bad news, so why would you want to assimilate that?
5. Practice time management. Set your goals, plan them, prioritize them. By doing this, you will be able to work through and finish your list on a daily basis, which will help you experience happiness and contentment.
6. Work hard. By doing so you will create enormous personal satisfaction and it will help you have a sense of value about yourself.
7.  Learn new things. A classic advice. Learning new things is an enriching exercise that will literally expand your world and create more opportunities for you in the future.
8. Express your feelings. Show affection and warmth to the people around you and in that let go of your fears.
9. Find spiritual connections. By being in touch with spirituality on a regular basis you foster inner peace and balance.
10. Help other people. This will give you a warm, energizing feeling. The more positive energy you put into this world, the more you will get in return.
11. Live in the moment. Instead of just adding days to your life, add life to your days. Keep in mind that the only time we really have is now – just this moment. Don’t let anything rob you of your life and happiness. Continue Reading �

 The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you’re in control of your life. If you don’t, life controls you.
- Anthony Robbins -

Each and everyone of us has full control over our lives. It all rests upon our own will, it is all in our own power.

There are no obstacles or difficulties that can stop us from doing what we want
to do, or fulfilling our dreams, but there are also no entitlemens. Live a good life, do good deeds, think positive and good things will happen to you - everyone can do that.

There are three behaviours that we use to control our lives:

• what we do
• what we think
• and what we feel

Sometimes we feel miserable as a result of these behaviours. But we always have some control over what we do. Accepting misery is a choice, and we choose much of our misery. Here are 4 reasons why we choose misery :

1. To keep angering under control
2. To get others to help us out Continue Reading �

…absolute behavior control is imminent…. The critical point of behavior control, in effect, is sneaking up on mankind without his self-conscious realization that a crisis is at hand. Man will… never self-consciously know that it has happened. - Raymond Houghton, ASCD (curriculum arm of the NEA), 1970

There are only a few of us that haven’t taken a personality test. They can be found all over the place, in magazines, websites… Lots of people are taking them to check their compatibility with the loved one, or to see what are the chances that their relationship will last. The problem is that only a few of us realise what these tests really are.

They not only tell us how we are, they also tell us how to be…

The four reasons why personality tests are really bad for your mental health:

1. They are manipulative. Let’s have an example. In a sex personality test, if you answer the question “How important is sex in your life?” with the fourth option (picture), the answer will score poorly. And if the other answers would follow on the same note (normal, not sex addict), the whole test will have a very low score, with a poor conclusion (picture). After a conclusion like this, the person who has taken the test will subconsciously try to change in order to get better test results in the future. Continue Reading �

Role models are a good thing to have, because they can inspire us to aim for goals and achieve ambitions which we think are beyond ourselves. That goal or ambition might be to gain a higher degree, to learn to be an airline pilot or even to become a world class DJ.

Most of us have role models whom we admire. The reasons why they are our role models can be different, but the admiration they inspire, what they represent to us, is what attracts us. They have a quality, attitude or ability, that we wish we had ourselves, and they inspire us to reach beyond ourselves. It’s good to have these dreams and ambitions and to have people who inspire you to go for it!

“An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.” - Friedrich Engels

Who’s your role model? You know, this always starts at the kindergarten. The teachers ask little students who their role model is. Most of them say police officer, fire fighter, or some cartoon characters, mostly heroic people. When I was in kindergarten, I never answered for that question. I had nothing on my mind to answer. Who is my role model? I really don’t think I’ve had any role models until recently, so I questioned myself again and again and again, and I have waited for a real role model…

It never came… Continue Reading �