Stopping the information overload for the new year

I was looking at my December folder in Scribd where I get most of my books (now called Everand) and I had so many books in there I knew I couldn’t read them in one month.

As as person with multiple interests that switch often, by the end of the year I have piles of books I am in the midst of reading (or in quiet time bags). One of my Scribd monthly folders had 26 books in it. What was I thinking! I have a few specialty magazines I realized I hadn’t gotten through. And I just ordered a new online course before finishing the last ones.

I was feeling stifled by all the brain food. I have been paring down so I can focus. Too much bouncing around with ideas means shallower living. I want to live deeper with more than a social media attention span.

I have a theme for each month for what I want to learn/improve/expand. And then I put only two books into each of my monthly folders in Everand. Themes like health, be more loving and courage. I am looking forward to the books I have chosen and completing my books. I have more books that I started but never finished than I would like. And I realize for me this will be an on-going clearing out as I will always have more interests than time LOL.

I made a note in my planner about which courses I own that would go with my monthly themes. I plan on listening/doing exercises about 20 minutes a day in the evening. I feel more focused already!

I picked an overall daily book to go with my yearly theme of expansion. I will not be bouncing around 10 different daily books like I have done in the past. I have a tendency to get excited about all the 365 days of… books. But, of course don’t have time to read all of them. I get behind and frustrated. Not this year!

I cleared out my quiet time bags and put most of the books away. I have one book I plan on reading in January, one notebook and my journal.

I unsubscribed to a bunch of email newsletters that weren’t focused on what I wanted to focus on this year.

I gathered all the magazines together on my night table to read an article a day, skipping ones I have no interest in. One magazine is already done.

I cleared out two bookshelves of books that don’t have any relevance to my current life, ending up with two boxes for charity. (It was so cute, skimming through the books from the 90s that read like ancient history! So much has changed with technology and my lifestyle.)

I emptied out a fabric cube of old magazines and books that my grandson can now use for toys.

And finally, I emptied a short, wide basket that held notebooks. I glanced through and didn’t need the information so it was all recycled. And now can hold toys under my grandson’s bed.

I feel like I have breathing space now.

Have you noticed a pile up of books you meant to read, courses you wanted to take, magazines or other information that you have accumulated throughout the year? How can you start focusing your information more for this year?