Use contraints to tame the overload

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion - Parkinson's Law

Dendro exists to help you learn productively in conditions of information overload. But what does " overload" really mean, and what does it take to defeat it?

Ultimately, overload is a feeling of helplessness that emerges when you try to take on more than you can handle. While it may not be overwhelming to have one article to read, having 80 articles get through can make you ask, "How will I ever do it all?"

The all-you-can-eat buffet

Consider an all-you-can-eat buffet, where there are entrees, main dishes, side dishes and desserts as far as the eye can see.

Despite the many options, when you go to dine, you are always restricted by the size of your plate. Thus, while the buffet might seem endless, and surely goes beyond your ability to eat it all, the plate reframes the whole situation from "How do I eat all this stuff?", to "Which things do I want on my plate?".

Interestingly, it doesn’t really matter if the plate is 7 inches wide or 9 inches. As long as you have the constraint at all, you can start thinking in terms of what you can actually deal with.

This analogy provides some valuable insights into the problem of overload, as well as its solutions.

Taking control

When you’re feeling overloaded, taking back the reins requires that you first accept your limitations, and then use constraints to manage those limitations.

While the idea of “limitations” may sound negative, it’s useful to consider them as a description of what you can do right now. After all, even the fastest person in the world has a maximum running speed, and even the richest person doesn’t have an infinite amount of money. Their limitations don’t make them weak or powerless, but rather just describe their current situation.

What constraints do you currently use? Chances are, if you're reading about information overload, probably not enough.

In the arena of learning, your limitations describe what you are capable of learning. The primary limitations that affect everyone are prior knowledge and time.

Prior knowledge affects what you can learn right now. For example, if you already know the basics of a topic, it’s much easier to dive into the advanced areas. Otherwise, you need to start with the basics.

Similarly, your available time affects how much you can study and learn. While you may have a library of books to choose from, if you only have time to read one chapter of any book per day, then it’s critical to understand and accept that fact.

Once you’re clear on your current limitations, you can use them to set constraints that empower you to profit from the endless options, rather than drowning in them.

The constraint of time

In the case of learning, how much time can you realistically devote to learning this week? That amount of time is your buffet “plate”, which affects how much you can actually handle. Anything that doesn’t fit on your plate, is just one of the options that weren’t good enough to make it.

When choosing your time constraint, it's better to start with less, and build momentum. For example, if you'd really like to be spending 10 hours per week, start with 30 minutes on the first day, then 45 on the second, and so on. Remember, when combating overload, the goal is to never feel overwhelmed.

When you get to the end of your time slot, if you feel like doing heaps more, first just pause and notice how good it feels. If you feel energised, don't ruin it by burning yourself out! Savour the feeling, stop, and look forward to coming back tomorrow to take the next step forward.

The idea is to build a long term habit. If you start small and regular, it'll be much more likely to stick.

Other constraints

Constraints can be applied at all sorts of levels.

Let’s say you have 30 articles that you want to read. Well, that number is actually irrelevant, because it describes the external world, and doesn't take your limitations into account (i.e. what you actually have time for). The real question is, how many articles can you get through in a week? Let's say it's about three. Then, you have to pick three. But then the choice of which three can be another bottleneck, and you might spend your whole learning time trying to choose those three! If that happens, you need another constraint. For example, you might only give yourself 5 minutes to choose which three articles you're going to read.

Doing things in this way means that you get to be in control of the process. Otherwise, you could find yourself struggling through a ton of long articles just because the authors couldn’t write their ideas in fewer words, and you made the bad choice of letting them dictate the amount of work for you to do.

As with the buffet plate example, it doesn't matter too much if you decide to read three articles this week or just one. The key is that you have a constraint at all. What matters is that you don't look at your reading list and think "There's too much!" (which of course there is), but rather look at your own available time and energy and only choose a few good things to spend that time and energy on.

Next time you feel a sense of overload ask yourself, "What constraints can I use to take back control?"

At Dendro, we mostly care about helping you be productive in learning. However, the principle of using constraints to tame the overload is a general principle, that can work if you feel overloaded with tasks and projects. Either way, the wise use of constraints can set you free to be productive, without the stress of trying to do the impossible.

Use Dendro to tame the overload

Unlike many other learning software, Dendro does not tell you how much you "need" to do today. Doing so would take the power out of your hands, which goes against our core design principles. Instead, when you're ready to engage each day, you decide how much time you have available, and Dendro will help you get the most learning out of that time.

To do this, you can simply set a timer. Let's say you give yourself 20 minutes. Then as soon as you start the timer you can hit Engage. Once 20 minutes is up, you can stop. In between, you'll be given a carefully curated feed that lets you cover many topics in a short time, balancing exploration of new topics with review of old topics.

In addition to using Dendro within clear time constraints, Dendro itself is designed to put exactly one thing in your field of attention at a time. We could have made it show you a list of things to pick from, but the constraint of showing one thing at a time makes the learning experience so much calmer, because you can just forget about everything else and focus on what's in front of you. That’s another constraint, which does wonders for beating the sense of overload.

If you’re ready to see what it feels like to learn productively and stress-free, sign up to Dendro today and try it for yourself!