Connect with Fast Company

Enter "information overload" into Google.com and, in .09 seconds, you'll have 257,000 results. Case in point.

Amazon.com offers at least 10 books to combat the problem. Change agents and free agents alike cite it as one of the chief perils of the new economy. But David Allen, a self-management consultant, will tell you otherwise.

"Information overload is not the problem," Allen says. "If it were, you'd walk into a library and die. The problem lies in the amount of information you allow into your life without deciding what it means and what you're going to do with it." Allen says fighting the overload battle on so many fronts -- whether email, voicemail, paperwork, meeting notes, or reading material -- isn't a science, it's a martial art, and you need a black belt to thrive. Here's his five-point program:

1. Get everything out of your head.

Any information in your head is in the wrong place. Either it bugs you more than it should, or you're not able to give it the attention it deserves. Collect all the ideas you can -- but not in your head. Carry a notepad, a tape recorder, anything. Keep everything: ideas, emails, project notes, and must-read paperwork in one inbox for processing.

According to Allen, people tend to file all their projects into their psychic RAM -- the "I would/could/should/need to" space in their brain. Psychic RAM is timeless: As soon as you tell yourself you should be doing something, a part of you thinks you should be doing it right now. To cut down stress, get everything out of your head and into a system your mind can trust.

2. Decide on the goal. Decide on the next step.

Most stress stems from people failing to decide instantly on the next step. You must first define your desired outcome for a project, a phone message, or a newspaper clipping. Then define the next action that will bring you closer to that outcome -- delegating a presentation, returning a call, or filing a clip in a background file. Finally define the context that will foster that action.

First, define victory: Ask yourself what result you want and how you'll know when you've reached that outcome. Then, ascertain the next step toward that goal. If you had no other responsibilities, what would you do to push this along? Don't overplan. If your list reads, "Call Fred. If Fred's dead, call Sue," that's overplanning. Keep your eye on the goal, make your next step, and remain flexible to what arises.

Finally, figure out what you need to achieve that next action. Do you need a computer? A phone? A car? Your boss's feedback?

3. Organize the thinking, not the paper.

Some next steps you can do right away; others require planning. Organize the ideas, not the paper. Take the decisions you just made -- the outcome, the next action, and the context in which you can do it -- and put them into a system that you review regularly. Keep lists of projects underway and those still in planning. List them by the outcome desired. Track the next steps and the things you're waiting on for each.