Article Series (4): Clear Coping Mechanisms for Dealing with Information Overload

Houghton-Jan, Sarah.  “Being Wired or Being Tired: 10 Ways to cope with Information Overload.”  Ariadne.  56 (2008): 1-13.  Web.  20 Sep. 2009.

Ah, the wonderful world of information overload!  We all experience it.  We all worry about it.  Most of us have no idea what to do about it.  (Boy is that soooo true!)  Well, here is a good article for those of you who want to try to do something about this.  This was recommended in a post by Maura Smale on ACRLog titled “Damming the Information Streams.”  So, lots of thanks and praise to Maura for recommending it.  And, upon reading it, I thought the article appropriate for my article series.  Although, I really suggest you read the article in its entirety if you can, as well as Maura’s post.  There is much more to the article than I am going to cover here.  Sarah does a much better job than I can in fleshing out her suggested strategies for coping with information overload.

At the risk of being boring, I am going to give you an outline that includes all of Sarah’s headings and subheadings from the article.  I will include some quotations with commentary for some of the sections (in italics).  But I think the outline is important if you want to pick out the sections you may find useful to you.  Not all of her advice is going to be useful to everyone.

A.  Introduction

B.  The History of Information Overload

“Information overload is not a new concept, believe it or not.  As far back as the sixteenth century people were complaining about the wide range of information they had to consume in order to contribute to society.  During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries an intellectual revolution occurred as books and written information became more widely produced and disseminated, while innovations and new relationships in economics and the sciences emerged.”  (1)

So, this isn’t a new concept/complaint.  Like so many things, this is an issue that has been around for a long time in a wide variety permutations.

C.  The Effects of Information Overload

“Information flowing in from the multitude of devices, organisations, and technologies distracts, pressures, and stresses us. And yet we continue to produce information for ourselves and for others. Every time we send out information, information returns to us, usually two-fold. We deal with both interruptive and non-interruptive information every day. When constantly interrupted with that information, we never have those periods of time when you can think, plan and ponder. As a result, our ability to push our lives and our institutions forward has been greatly compromised.” (2)

Should we stop producing so much information?  Should we make an effort to ‘unplug’ so that we can regroup on a regular basis?  Do you think that being plugged in all the time compromises our efforts to move our lives and institutions forward?  Well, I can’t speak for everyone but I will (sheepishly) admit that I am not as productive at work when I have Twitter and Facebook going throughout the day.  Don’t get me wrong, I think both have their uses, both socially and professionally, but on a daily basis I am more focused when I am a bit more unplugged.  I can multi-task just like most, but I do better and more quality work when I focus on one or two things at a time. 

D.  The Role of Librarians and Other Information Professionals

“So, how do we combat information overload, also known as ADT? Hallowell recommends face-to-face interactions every few hours (what he calls a ‘a human moment’), exercise, enough sleep, a good diet, keeping one’s workspace tidy, breaking large tasks down into smaller ones, and setting aside part of your day as ‘appointment and email free.’ But what really works? What do the people working in the field do to help themselves?” (3)

What works for you?  Maybe we should all try some of these ideas.  I have been trying a few of these things.  My take so far?  They are useful.  I actually have started to clear off the nightmare that is my desk, it keeps me from feeling so overwhelmed.  And I definitely work better when I get some face time with my colleagues each day.

E.  Ten Techniques to Manage the Overload

1.  General Organisational Techniques

a.  Make an Inventory of Information Received

b.  Make and Inventory of Your Devices

c.  Read Up

Some of the books recommended in this section could be useful, but I am a bit cautious because the most recent of these is from 2007.  And, as most things regarding information change so fast these days the content in these books might not be so timely.

d.  Think Before Sending

What is the best way to communicate with someone?  Do you prefer using email, IM, voicemail?  But what is the best way in relation to the information need and/or what is the most effective way to communicate with a particular person?  Maybe speaking to the person face to face is the best method.

e.  Schedule Yourself

f.  Schedule Unscheduled Work

g.  Use Your ‘Down Time’ to Your Benefit

h.  Stay Tidy and on Top

i.  Keep a Waiting List

This might be useful, but only if your list isn’t a mile long.

2.  Filtering Information Received

 a.  Weed, Baby Weed!

b.  Teach Others

c.  Schedule Unplugged Times

d.  Unplug at Will

3.  RSS Overload Techniques

a.  Use RSS When Applicable

b.  Remind Yourself

c.  Limit the Number of Feeds

Yep, I have too many feeds and not enough time to read them.  I think it is time to ‘weed’ some of them out.

d.  Organise Feeds

4.  Interruptive Technology Overload Techniques

a.  Use Interruptive Technology When Appropriate

b.  Check When You Want to

c.  Do Not Interrupt Yourself

d.  Importance of the Status Message

e.  Lobby for IM in Your Workplace

5.  Phone Overload Techniques

a.  Use the Phone When Appropriate

b.  Turn Your Mobile Phone Off

c.  Keep You Number Private

d.  Let It Ring

e.  Work=Work; Home=Home

6.  Email Overload Techniques

a.  Stop ‘Doing Email’

b.  Schedule Email Scanning Times

You got that right!

c.  Deal with Email by Subject

d.  Use Email When Appropriate

e.  Keep Your Inbox Empty

f.  Filter your Messages

g.  File Your Messages

I do some of this, but my problem I tend not to visit those folders very often.  Things get ignored.

h.  Limit Listservs

i.  Follow Good Email Etiquette

j.  Delete and Archive

7.  Print Media Overload Techniques

a.  Just Because You Can Touch It Does Not Mean You Have to Keep It

“Treat physical data the same way you would treat digital data: if you do not absolutely need it, throw it out.” (10)

Oh boy, this one is a lot harder than I can say.  I looove having piles of books around.  They definitely keep me company and provide me quite a bit of comfort.  I love ‘em!

b.  Cancel, Cancel, Cancel

c.  Weed What You Have

8.  Multimedia Overload Techniques

a.  Choose Entertainment  Carefully

b.  Limit Television Viewing

c.  Use Your Commute to Your Benefit

9.  Social Network Overload Techniques

a.  Schedule Time on Your Networks

“Allot yourself a set amount of time to deal with your social networks. Logging in at the beginning of the day can be very dangerous – the friend requests, messages, photo and wall comments, new status updates, blog posts, and fun applications can suck hours out of every day if you let them. Stick to whatever time you allotted yourself.” (11)

Oh . . . so true.  It is so easy for me to lose track of time when I log on in the morning.

b.  Pick a Primary Network

c.  Limit Your IM

10.  Time and Stress Management

a.  Use Your Calendar

b.  Take Breaks

c.  Eliminate Stressful Interruptions

“If you find yourself jumping at audio signals like IM notifications or phones ringing, then silence them. If you feel a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when you look at your email, then do not look at it as often. Think about those stressors and do what you can to reduce them.” (12)

I turned off the sound on my computer a long time ago.  It is such a relief!

d.  Look for Software Help

e.  Balance Your Life and Work

“If you find yourself tapping at a keyboard next to your partner on the sofa while you are watching a movie, instead of sidling up next to him or her, you may have a work/life balance problem. Think long and hard about whether or not you have your priorities in the right place. If you know you do not, then you should seek help to re-balance your time.” (12)

I’m not sure I completely agree with this one.  Seeing as I am here, on the sofa, watching a movie, while sitting next to my sweetie.  And I am completely fine with that.  I just don’t do this all the time.

F.  Conclusion

“Consciously thinking about the effectiveness and desirability of each stream of information, and of ways to improve them, will help to get the best information to you in the best way.” (12)

Which is basically what this article can help you do.  It all boils down to this.

“I believe that, as information professionals, we are best equipped to recognise information overload and deal with its effects. We know information; it is our business. We are better positioned than anyone to deal with our own information load and to share those skills and techniques with those we serve. Make the topic of information overload a subject at a staff meeting, the topic of a customer training, and a topic of research for your organisation’s training or technology teams. Together we can help people in general to deal with this deluge of information. But first, we have to deal with our own flood. Happy sailing!” (12)

Well, I’m not sure I’m ready to give others advice.  But I’m certainly ready to deal with my own overload.  So, how about you?