3. Turning the mountain into a mole hill.

There is a continual stream of thoughts that run through my head daily.  Most of them revolve around school with a few random thoughts about work, family and bills thrown in just for kicks.  The school thoughts consume my weekdays, and usually they end with this closing thought: "Holy Shit!”  Yes, that is how my days go.  The internal dialogue generally ends with that final exclamation, and then I go to bed.
 
There is so much information out there, so many blogs to take in, websites to process and books to read.  It is a mountain of information.  In the ad industry we are consistently bombarded with information in all forms, and as a students and professional in training it is our job to consume, process and form new and interesting opinions.  So how can a student who looks at that mountain and says "Holy Shit", work that mountain down into a more manageable mole hill?

 The Most Important Tip: Give yourself some credit, if you are trying to immerse yourself in the information, you are on the right track.  This was a hard one, but I feel much better when I pat myself on the back once in a while.

First things first, get your routine down.  No matter when you get out of bed, you should have a routine.  I start my day with coffee, very, very strong coffee.  Then I move to the computer and open these sites: NYT, CNN, MSN, Facebook, Deb Morrison's blog and twitter.  I get my daily dose of world news out of the way, followed by entertainment and then social networking.  This way I can really focus without being too distracted. 

Once I have had my fix of news and status updates it's time to get serious.  As a student it helps to think of this online reading in the same way you would tackle a math assignment.  Accept this is WAY better than math, it's interesting and you will likely be able to write about what you read in your blog and use it in real life. You can smile just knowing that you don't have to do a math assignment, I do.

Next step: Read.  And make note of valuable information and sites that you come across.  The web takes you all over the place and it's easy to get lost.  Bookmark, tweet, and take good old fashioned notes.  This will help you remember what you have read and also how to find it again.

I found out how I start my day and how I have been tackling this mountain by taking a hard look at my media habits.  Take one week and note all of the media that you work with and when.  Once you have that it's easy to see how your pattern is naturally developing.  Once you see what you are already doing it's much easier to feel in control.  You're less likely to end your daily thoughts with "Holy Shit!" this way.