Surviving Information Overload: The Clear, Practical Guide to Help You Stay on Top of What You Need to Know

By Kevin A. Miller

"Timely and much-needed . . . offers solid and practical advice and reminds us that the focus of our needs should be related to God's purposes and plans for our lives.George Gallup Jr. "If you have... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 031025115X
• ISBN13: 9780310251156
• Release Date: May 2004
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.1" x 0.6" x 5.4"

Customer Reviews

Help at last!

This is the best productivity book I've read. I have been recommending this book to everyone I know, including my staff. I don't think there is a person who would not benefit from some portion of the book. The book is extremely well organized, with practical, actionable advice, and it's a quick read. The author identifies the potential beneficiaries of each chapter up front, making it easy for the reader to decide whether the chapter would help him or her. I've already implemented many guilt-free changes, such as ceasing to read materials whose content I'm already familiar with, unsubscribing from email lists, delegating more tasks since I cannot possibly be an expert in everything. Even though much of the advice may be common sense (though the book does contain various levels of detail in dealing with TMI), somehow reading the book gives you the authority to do the things you knew you ought to be doing anyway. One of my favorite gems is his advice to divide the stacks of reading materials you're hoarding into three piles: one you really do need/wish to read, one you'll read when you get through the first pile, and one you you don't need to read at all. Then he directs you to toss the third pile, and while you're at it, toss the second pile because, let's face it, you're never going to get through the first one. Honesty like that makes the book very refreshing.

GOOD TIPS

Good introdcution to a subject which is almost always overlooked. The examples are interesting and you can apply to everyday life. A practical approach.

Miller Gets It!

Working in a publishing company, the author, Kevin Miller surely knows about information overload. And his book proves he has figured out how to cope with it. What to save,skip, read or file are constant challenges in my small business world. This book gives me a framework and great tips. Practical stuff. Worth picking up--and saving!

Concise, practical, easy to read

I am not by nature a person who likes to organize information and papers and processes, but I have to do it in order to be productive. This book makes it painless for the organizationally challenged. Kevin obviously knows his stuff and likes to be simple in his advice. Anyone who is either an organizational fanatic or a helpless "where did I put that?" will enjoy and benefit from this book.

Conquering Information Overload

This is a great book, though the title is an understatement. More than surviving information overload, it's about conquering information overload--learning how to use information to maximize your life without becoming a slave to technology. Kevin Miller has a technique for just about everything, from managing email to surfing the internet (he shows you which search engine to use for what purpose) to organizing your office to prioritizing your day...and, subsequently, your life. I found the second chapter, "Selecting Your Key Information Areas" most helpful; through a simple five question survey I was able to define and refine my list of professional and personal priorities--and I was able to pinpoint which areas need pruning. Also helpful is chapter four, "How To Turn Information Into Results," which shows how to put information to work by focusing on action steps related to each meeting and each project. Though there are hundreds of tips and practical pointers in this book, "Surviving Information Overload" is a quick and easy read. What's more, Kevin's foreword gives you permission to skip some sections and skim others. "You don't have to finish this book. Read only as much as you find helpful," he says. Actually, being able to skip and skim is a sign you're getting the hang of Miller's method--there's no point in trying to sort information you have no use for. For me, however, I read the whole thing.