Overwhelmed by Information Overload
October 5, 2009
It is said that information is power. Not so long ago information is scarce and we need to scour the library and hunt down reference material or invest in the Britannica to get the data we want. Information was expensive and was usually outdated.
Now information is abundantly available and very often free, accessible to all and constantly kept up to date. You get loads of information from different authoritative sources from one simple search online. And many would also subscribe to news feeds and alerts for regular updates.
So now you are inundated with information from different sources every day; too much of a good thing and you don’t know what to do with the information overload. And unless and until you make use of the relevant and timely information, that huge amount of feeds and data is not going to be of any benefit to you.
In fact it will overwhelm, distract and stress you out. And on top of that you also get lots of emails and text messages every day. They do not relent but keep you busy and quite frankly drive you crazy.
It is found that information overload costs the US economy about $900 billion a year in lost productivity. That’s a huge amount of waste. So what do you do?
To deal with this sense of overwhelm and work related stress, you need to be selective of the information you allow to enter your inbox and your space. Consider the following for information to serve you well. The need to have the following characteristics:
• Relevance – you don’t want everything under the sun. In fact you only need the most relevant bit that will get the job done. The 20% that will solve 80% of your problem. Less is more. Do not generate unnecessary work related stress. You can be selective in your subscription and the information you pull. The more focus your information the more useful it is.
This is where you may want to consider customized products and services. Let someone else do the research, the filtering and sorting, the rearranging and the design so you get the finished product presented to you streamlined and easy for your consumption.
As far as emails are concerned, you can send unrequested and chain mails straight to the trash.
• Timely – Information you need has to be current and updated. Needs change, trends change, what was true before may not be true now. Make use of RSS feeds and alerts to keep you regularly updated with only the recent and the relevant. Delete after reading. Unless you have an organized way of filing you are better off searching for the information on demand than wasting more looking through your folders and files for information "stored somewhere".
Information is useless until you apply it; you may already have learned many great principles from CDs, books and reports. If you find yourself saying “I already know that, nothing new” then perhaps it is time to check if you really do know it experientially.
We do not need to learn more new principles until we have started applying the gems we have been exposed to. If we are storing information in our head and not letting that change the way we think and work, we will not reap the desired results. Only changes in action will bring about changes in results. It may be worthwhile finding out what is preventing the execution.
To find out what is causing the lack to motivation to take positive action for successful results, you can sign up for a free preview tele call here.
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Of Computer Problems And Technical Support
August 30, 2009
When your computer starts acting up due to hardware issues or malware / virus and you have to relinquish your computer to the technical support guy for trouble shooting and computer recovery for a few days, you may feel lost and insecure and quite frankly fidgety and stressed.
You find yourself in a situation where you have no control over your work which has become very dependent on your computer. Your computer being dysfunctional causes uncertainty as you are not sure if and when it will be ready for use again. You are also not usre if the problems can be fixed, and whether you can have it back in time for the work on hand.
Your best bet for situations like this is preparation and taking proactive measures before it happens. Before anything like this happens, you want to have contingency planning in place. In case you cannot have your computer for a few days (which happens) you want to be able to continue work on any computer anywhere – so long as it has internet connection. Take is from me, I learn it the hard way.
For best practice, do the following on a regular basis to save yourself lots of unnecessary duress and angst:
Get a good virus and malware application to protect your computer. Always use licenced applications, free applicationz not only do not come with support they may open your machine to viruses and malware.
Back up all data files regularly. Keep copies of your backup by date so you can esily restore. Take this chance to clean up files that you no longer need; they not only takes up space but it becomes harder for you to search through the files when you need to look for documents.
Have a working folder. This is the folder you will copy over onto a portable pen drive so you can carry on working on any computer. This should not contain too many files. It will have sub folders of the following:
Working projects (only) with files and documents you are currently working on in the various projects. Tag your files and folders for easy reference. Do not file by date but file by projects or keywords under appropriate folders.
File with of all log in id and passwords. You can make use of password managers or manually use a file to track this. Keep this updated as you change your passwords periodically. This is one file do not want to leave in your computer before you hand it over to the technical guy to work on your machine! Delete and empty trash before you surrender your machine.
File with favourite URLs of websites you regularly use. Bookmarks and favourites are machine dependent so you need to have your URLs handy and updated. Alternatively you can also keep a regular back up copy of your favourites. Include homepage urls for your browsers.
List of all the programs you have with the current versions. This helps when you need to update your applications when you get your computer back. You will need time to reinstall programs and applications, so you can use them on your machine.
These are the basics must dos. So the next time your technical person needs to take your laptop away for trouble shooting or reformatting, all you need is to copy your working folder over to a portable device (hard disk or pen drive) and you can continue your work using any computer that has a connection to the internet.
And when you get your machine back again, just restore the back up data/folders and reinstall your programs. All your favorites and bookmarks can be easily restored. For more productivity and stress relief tips, get a special free report here.
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The Disruptive Cost Of Multi-Tasking
August 27, 2009
How often are you interrupted in a day? I am not referring to visitors dropping in to pay you unannounced visits, or the little ones wanting to play with you since you work from home. I am referring to the flood of emails, phone calls and text messages that bombard you throughout the day.
While increasing workload and tighter deadlines, you try to cramp all you need to do in the little time you have. Office workers and entrepreneurs alike start doing what mothers do so well – they multi-task.
Does This Look Familiar?
Multitasking has become a workplace buzzword as blackberry and ipod push mainstream culture into a 24/7 stand by lifestyle. So much so that you begin to feel uncomfortable and out of touch if you are without your gadgets for a few hours.
Well, I have news for you. Your brain can only make one decision at a time. As you multi-task your brain is not handling all the tasks at once, it is switching back and forth between tasks. The constant effort means that doing even just two or three things at once puts far more demand on our brains compared with if we did them one after another.
This is what multi-tasking does to you:
Reduces your intelligence – A study carried out at the British Institute of Psychiatry found that excessive use of technology reduced workers’ intelligence and that those distracted by incoming e-mail and phone calls saw a ten-point fall in their IQ, over twice the impact of smoking or marijuana use.
Pretty scary huh?
Wastes your time – Another study reports that the American worker wastes 2.1 hours per day due to multitasking. When distracted while performing a task, it takes time to get yourself into the context of the new task and complete the new task. And then it takes recovery time to get back on track with the original task.
Compromises productivity – multitasking makes us less effective, not more. Your digital assistants are tools don’t serve them. Do not allow them to break your focus. That task switch takes up a longer time. It is easier to keep going once the juice is flowing and you are going at full steam than to abruptly stop and do something unrelated and re orientate to finish up the original later. That may take 3 times as long to do the same amount of work because now you have to retrieve all your background information and bring it back to the consciousness of your mind.
Introduces health risks – When you go back and forth between browsing the Internet to talking on a cell phone, you are using different parts of your brain. The mental processes involved in switching tasks takes up time and effort. It tires you out easily.
You get overwhelmed, mental burnout, anxiety and this may to depression. You need more time to get the same amount of work done and that taxes your brain switching between tasks. The quality of the work suffers and you do not get the sense of achievement. You know you can do better work but multi-tasking has robbed you of performing at your best. Another form of work related stress.
Lowers the threshold of distractibility - The fast paced multi tasking culture is pushing you to be more easily distractible and less able to focus over sustained periods of time. Just how often you look at your blackberry? You are almost anticipating the next alert; your mind is not really concentrating on the task at hand. And you continue to program yourself to expect to be distracted.
What Does Your Idea Life Look Like?
What can we do about this?
Turn off your email alerts, tweet deck, blackberry, facebook chats, RSS feeds and maybe even your phone when you are doing creative work.
Then check your in box and voice mails at schedule times. Try that for a couple of days and see if it allows you to be more efficient.
Focus on the present; one task at a time. I can not emphasize this enough. Less is really more. Mono is really better than multi in this case.
Try this especially if you suffer attention deficits disorder.
Chunk your time – schedule what you need to do into chunks of time. Do all you related work in one sitting. Take short breaks in between that uses different parts of the brain. Better still get out of your chair and do some physical movements. Break the state and then proceed to the next task. This way, you make sure all you need to do will be attended to and you will get more done in shorter time with better results – gotta love that productivity.
Practice having quiet moments in your day, whether it is morning, lunch time or just before you retire to bed. Some quiet meditation and deep breathing will quiet your mind and help you regain focus and attention span and set you up for a more focus and successful day.
Additional resources available to help you reduce stress.
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