Do you know that too much information can be bad for you? In the past, people were concerned about not having enough information. Today, we are faced with the growing problem of having too much information! It seems we are bombarded with data and information at every turn; from traditional sources such as newspapers, magazines, radio and TV, colleagues and customers, to the internet, smart phones, emails and all kinds of social media.

Email has dramatically increased the workload of many employees who are overwhelmed and stressed by having to cope with hundreds of emails per day, some even round the clock in an age of globalisation. Even doctors find themselves having to consult with patients and their relatives through emails.

How can one absorb all the information we are flooded with every day? Is there a better way to filter out the information we really need; information that are relevant, accurate, verifiable, reliable & valid for dissemination to the right parties and to use them effectively to produce the results we want in our study, personal and work life?

1. Filter key information

We can use Mind Mapping to filter key information, read faster and comprehend more when we tap into the brains inter-connected and boundless thoughts. We can learn to use our memories better and improve our creativity and hence, productivity in our tasks management.

Since most information are presented in the form that has to be read, be it from printed materials or electronic screens, the single most important thing you can do for yourself is to learn to read faster and manage information more efficiently through key information.

2. Radiant note-taking

It’s time to rethink how we learn to take in new information radiantly instead of linearly. A majority of students take notes in a standard linear fashion, yet our knowledge of key concepts and its effect on recall has shown that 90% of the text we record do not aid in recall. Hence time is wasted recording those words that do not help with our memory. Again time is wasted in re-reading the same unnecessary words!

It is not natural for the mind to work in straight lines but in a radiant fashion linking associations in or out from different connecting points, therefore Tony Buzan, the inventor of Mind Maps, termed this ‘Radiant Thinking’.

3. Tap into your senses

The brain receives information through our five senses, with each of these senses making a series of connections by associating and linking with different ideas and concepts. The more senses you utilise, the greater your ability to recall the information. For example, you need to memorise a set of figures for a presentation. When you look at these figures, you are using your sense of vision. You then record them on a piece of paper, thus adding a sense of touch. Perhaps you can now read them aloud and play it back on tape, adding another sense – hearing.

4. Key word versus standard notes

A person’s recalling mechanism is based on a key concept nature and not a word-for-word verbatim. When people describe books that they have read or places they have visited, they usually outline the key concepts to include the main characters, settings, events and add descriptive detail. With just one key word or phrase, the brain can trigger a whole range of experiences and sensations. For example, think of the range of images that flows through your mind when you read the word ‘child’.

5. Mind Map note-making

Mind Map goes beyond a graphical presentation of information. It is a highly visual thinking tool that helps to structure information for ease of analysis, comprehension, organization, recall and generation of ideas. When used in note-taking, its powerful use of symbols, images and colour coding helps to distinguish words or ideas using a hierarchical tree branching radial format with ideas branching into their sub-sections. Mind maps differs from the traditional concept maps in that it focuses on only one key word or idea at a time whereas concept maps connect multiple words or ideas simultaneously.

The largest project mind map was created by Dr Mike Stanley at the Boeing Aircraft Corporation in Seattle, USA – a 25 feet long mind map condensing an aircraft design and engineering manual from about 3000 pages of print information. This enabled a project team of 100 senior aeronautical engineers to learn in a few weeks what would have taken them a few years previously, not to mention the considerable cost savings in printing, storage and distribution!