If you recall, last month I shared my Reading Inventory System where you use a personal value scale of 1 to 10 to make your reading pile(s) more quality instead of quantity. This month, we're now going deeper into the piles helping you find what is most valuable to you by using the two golden words "So what?"

Continually asking "So what?" while reading will force you to focus your attention on the information YOU want or need to know the most. Once you answer your "so what?", you are free to ignore the rest.

For Newspapers and Magazines: When reading a newspaper or magazine article, ask yourself "So what?" or "Do I really want or need to know this?" and start aggressively looking for the information YOU want to know. Skim the first sentence of each paragraph looking for the information YOU want. Hopefully, it will be there - if not, you have saved yourself valuable time and mental frustration.

For Non-Fiction Books: Assuming you chose the book because it is of interest to you, look at the table of contents and ask yourself "So what?" or "Which of these will suit my needs most?" about each chapter's title. Decide which one(s) meet your interests the most and focus on those first. Read the chosen chapters like a magazine article (see above).

For Business Reports: Everyone who works in a business gets these (maybe too many of them!). To get the most out of your reports, again ask yourself "So what?" or "What specific action am I going take as a result of reading this?" to guide you to locate what YOU need to know, quicker.

For Email: When reading email, look at the subject lines in your inbox and ask "So what?" Decide which to open first based on what you want to know. (Hint: When writing your emails, make sure you answer the "so what?" in the subject line!)

In the end, it is better to read some of an article, chapter, book or report than to leave it completely unread. And what you read will be of value to you if you constantly ask yourself "So what?" So, what are you going to read, or better yet, what are you NOT going to read?!

Check out our content-rich teleclass CD's »

My guest, Della Menechella, is an accomplished speaker and peak performance coach who specializes in helping busy people "get a grip" on their stress. Her corporate program "All Stressed Out and No One to Choke" has been in demand since she created it.

Because we think you will want to hear these ideas again and again, we are giving away a complimentary CD of the teleclass with the registration!

If you cannot attend but want the CD anyway, just register for the class and we'll send it to you approximately two weeks after the session.

We look forward to helping you reduce YOUR stress!

Register for this teleclass now »