This is already our seventh day of searching and acquiring information on the internet on how to monetize or make our site profitable. And before we continue, I would personally like to talk about Information Overload. Have you ever heard about it before? Well if you are an expert in internet marketing, chances are that this term isn’t new to you. But if you’re a beginner just like me, then here’s some explanation on what it is.

It happens to everybody, I mean everyone using the internet. It could happen to a new searcher browsing the net and even to an expert marketer, entrepreneur, affiliate marketer, or just about anybody using the internet to find information.

With the tons of information being created daily and every single hour of the day, it is not impossible that this is happening. You search for a topic of interest and you are presented with a lot of websites containing lots of information. Then you open these sites one by one and look through the content and read what they have posted. And next is you move on to the other sites and repeat the process.

As you gather up more and more sites, the information that you have gathered starts to pile up in your head without you even noticing it. And then, there are links, advertisements, sub-topics, related words that make you click on them and you are directed into another site. Then once again, you are presented with a lot of options to read, search and select the information that you are looking for.

The scenario goes on and on until you start to yawn, in my opinion your brain is giving you a hint to take a rest from your search and give it some time to absorb and digest the information that it has received. But you then reach out to a cup of Starbucks coffee that you have purchased to keep you concentrated and even give you more energy to keep your eyes on the screen.

As you keep on gathering the information in search for the answer to your original question in mind, do you think that you have already found the right answer? Or are you still looking for it and instead, it has even added up to the equation? If suddenly, you already feel like me, feeling more confused and having a heavy head. Feeling that you have already maxed out your thinking and unable to absorb more of the information presented in front of you. Chances are, you’ve already hit the point that we call an overload of information that you have acquired from searching.

So, what’s the cure? Or what’s the best way to avoid this problem?

• It would be nice to write what you are searching for in a piece of paper, or better yet, have an A4 beside you with a pen and write down your search terms.
• If you don’t have a piece of paper and pen with you, just use your Notepad from your computer, or similar software depending on the operating system that you are using.
• Whenever you find relevant topics, sub topics and even related thoughts as you are searching, write them down and provide the category or hierarchy. This way, you are making it visible to your mind to see your progress.
• Remember to drink water. I recommend having a glass of water with you together with your Starbucks coffee. And as you finish up your water, go ahead and refill it. It is also a good way for you to take a short break by walking.
• As much as possible, avoid clicking on interesting ads (I apologize to fellow marketers) as these distract you from focusing on your goal. But if you really think that they are interesting, save the link to the ads so you could visit them once you have finished your search (there, I made up for what I have said ).
• If you start to feel that you’re not taking most of the information in, it’s good to take a break of 10-20 minutes. It helps your brain to take a rest and would allow you to even add more information. This means that your mind is processing the information that it has gathered and reorganizing your thoughts, plus it is also preparing some space.
• Make a schedule of how long you are going to search the information. Like 1-2 hours of search, and then process the details that you have gathered. Then continue in a few days more if you have the time. It also depends on how broad or narrow your search topic is.

These are just some of the ways on how you could improve your search experience on the internet and to prevent the dreaded Information Overload.

What do you think about this topic? Do you have anything to add? If you find it interesting, you could comment or write a suggestion.