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smart marketing Each day, the business community is facing a challenge to view, understand and process multiple information in���ows at the same time. As vast amounts of data continually compete for our attention, we ���nd that something has to budge. It is estimated that more than 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created each day. As employees and individuals, we must sift through it all and make sense of it in the best manner possible. The amount of data available is increasing exponentially, putting us on the verge of information overload. Much like the unbridled ingestion of food, we become inundated with excess bytes leading to unusable facts and ���gures within our RSS feeds and the like. It���s time to curb our insatiable hunger for statistics by seeking only the healthy balance of data using any one of many ���ltering techniques. The best way to manage the situation is to start with an information diet. It begins as a total elimination regimen, similar to food diets, allowing a person to start with a clean palate. For one day, all information in���ows should be avoided while a list is kept to note what data is absolutely necessary to get through the day. It is not unusual to ���nd that only 40 to 60 percent of current information in���ows are actually needed for daily consumption. Once it is clear which healthy data in���ows are necessary, it is time to clear out the ���junk food��� of information. To accomplish this, purge and permanently delete in���ows by unsubscribing to unneeded apps, RSS feeds and bookmarks. Once you have trimmed the fat, determine if the remaining information helps create a more organized work or personal life, or if it is consumed out of a feeling of obligation or addiction to the content. Social media can be a fascinating source of information, but many times it can be the junk food a person craves. You do not need to cut out every single information in���ow that would be considered junk. But remember, just like a food diet, a person must strive to ingest data in moderation. With the information consumption now streamlined to only the ���musthaves��� and healthy options, a person should consume the information consciously. This is an idea Clay Johnson detailed in his 2012 book ���The Information Diet.��� Johnson points out the need to discern between opinion and facts when consuming information and then ���nd a middle ground. While munching through close to 40 gigabytes of data each day, it is important to make the effort to attentively ask the questions of who, what, when, where, why, how and, most importantly, can this be true? As with food, most information in���ows that offer fast and delicious content are junk that is not veri���ed or accurate. Healthy alternatives may take time to consume and understand, but in the long run they will offer superior information. As a person works toward a healthy balance, it is important to remember that human brains need time to think, digest, rest and rebalance. Try ���nding time to take a ���thinking��� break where you free your brain of information and give it a rest. Keeping your information ���lters in peak performance requires some information downtime. And as entertaining as it can be, keeping up with social media, watching television or reading does not give your brain the information downtime it needs. After conquering the challenge of the information diet, remember to re-evaluate your information consumption regularly: As new sources of information emerge, decide if they are a healthy or unhealthy addition to your balanced data intake. Timothy Syfert and Meagan (Luttenton) Knoll are af��liate faculty of management at Seidman College of Business, Grand Valley State University. Their article, titled ���Fat-free data consumption begins with an ���information diet������ was originally run in the Grand Rapids Business Journal. 93 SMART TAN MAGAZINE ��� SmartTan.com