Individuals who are considered successful are able to take in a lot of information, and tend to do a lot of reading.

Indeed, those who are most adept tend to do a fair chunk of their reading on topics outside of their primary area of expertise. That means that if they're a business leader, they may read quite a bit on business and leadership, but they also read books and articles on history, science, archaeology, psychology, theology, or other non-business topics.

At the same time, most of us are awash in information - avalanches of email, letters, journals, books, articles, reports, web sites, paperwork that come our way each week. Knowing that, in order to be effective, we need to sort through the mountain of information and extract the most important nuggets, how do we approach the climb?

Some information-overload strategies tout speed-reading as one be-all and end-all. We hear of executives who, ever quantitative in their focus, boast about reading more than 30 journals and a number of books each month. And speed-reading advocates, selling their "how-to" workshops (or justifying their participation in the same), insist that you can zip through and actually retain all of the information.

...but why would you want to do that?

Exactly. Why would you want to speed read? Like eating too fast just so you can sample all of the foods on the buffet table, all it will likely give you is info-indigestion. The better bet is to survey the buffet, know what food you like and feel like eating, and then focus on a few offerings so you can fully enjoy each morsel and benefit from the nutrition and energy it provides.

We're all for efficiency, and think information-scanning has its time and place. However, being able to scream through a vast quantity of information isn't always necessary, and neither is it wise or efficient. It's like someone boasting that they work 70 hours per week because they think it sounds impressive, yet a mindful, organized person would be able to actually produce more in half the time. Like the saying goes, just because you can do more, and do it fast, doesn't mean you should, or need to.

A better approach?

A more mindful and effective approach is to be clear about your key priorities and primary interests, use scanning to get through the piles and determine what of the information is actually relevant to you, read and mindfully digest the most important material, and toss or pass along the rest. Yet again, we make the distinction between a focused, qualitative approach versus a broad, quantitative approach.

For example, if your weekly or monthly priorities are researching and giving an important presentation, discussing performance issues with a problem employee, reviewing and approving a project report, and wanting to find tips for dealing more effectively with information overload, you would:

Most people who focus on quantity are often unfocused and unclear about their vision and priorities; disorganized; or have convinced themselves that they have to read everything or they'll miss something crucial (a tendency that most likely stems from one of the first two things mentioned).

The main gist? Get clear about your true priorities, and let that guide your actions throughout any given day, week or month. And remember: If you really have a need for information on another topic that crops up, you'll no doubt be able to track down what you need at the time.

Being clear and mindful saves you time and energy, and allows you to be more effective than a scattered, quantitative focus ever could.