Introduction

The barrage of emails, voicemail, web pages to scan, books to read, and magazines and newsletters to digest leave people increasingly feeling overwhelmed and out of control in dealing with information overload as society spins even faster. This book offers a brief, seven-chapter practical guide to the "capture" approach. It teaches the skills of point, focus, and shoot to help the reader become more productive and overcome mental fatigue. This is not a gimmick for "neat desk" people or an expensive system requiring purchase of multiple resources or practice of rigid exercises. This practical, quick-read book shows how people of any temperament can keep from drowning in the sea of information. Features include interviews and insights from national leaders plus charts, cartoons, worksheets, and creative exercises.

Purpose and Approach

The book is not about how to speed up but how to gain time and focus and purpose and the mental space to be creative. You don't have to finish the book but can read it selectively at different times depending on your current needs. Feel free to skim-read, tear out pages, email small sections to a friend, or read from back to front. The goal is that you come away with ideas and help.

Sections

The four sections are:

• Finding the information you need: and getting results from it.
• Clearing information clutter: less is more.
• Creating space to think: finding oasis amid overload.
• Discovering bonus stuff: it doesn't cost you anything extra.

Goals

This clear, practical guide will help you to:

• Sort and organize information in less time
• Make space to be creative
• Find just the information you need when you need it
• Move from frantic to purposeful
• Keep growing over a lifetime