Dealing with the information
overload
Information overload is a problem present in every area of our lives:
university, work, home etc. Unfortunately, it will develop even more in the
future. Someone might ask What is this,
Information overload?
Information overload, as you might guess, is when you
try to process more information than you are able to in order to make a reasonable decision. It usually causes a delay in
making decisions or forces you to make an inappropriate
one. It is extremely important to learn how to deal with it, as it gives you a
major advantage in different areas of your life.
There are many causes of information overload:
·
ease of duplication and spread of information,
·
increase of available information channels,
·
not enough methods known to process all the
information coming.
·
inaccuracies and contradictions in the information.
Making choices in the age of information overload isn’t
an easy task. It may cause us a lot of stress if we don’t have a precise mode
of action to treat it with.
As we also know, qualitative
information is the most valuable asset
we can get. Nowadays, it is essential to be able to take care of many issues at
the same time(multitasking). Many people claim that they are multitasking which
is, of course not true as we cannot make things
simultaneously. If we say we’re multitasking, we just switch our attention very quickly between different tasks
(which is not healthy for our brains by the way) and it doesn’t mean that we
are more efficient.
For me personally, it is often difficult to stay
focused on certain tasks because of the information overload. I used to lose a lot of time because of
cellphone-emails-Facebook-news-tasks distractions. It all causes a lot of stress (see the info graphic about digital stress and your brain http://media-cache-ec3.pinterest.com/upload/106116134940516604_Jqq9UKe7_c.jpg?maxX=838&maxY=3946)
After some time, I’ve decided to optimize time spent on tasks
and information processing. I’ve tried different tips and tricks but only about
20% of them helped me in some way.
First issue to deal with, was checking my emails and Facebook
account(sometimes it’s the best and only way to contact with some people) too
often. Of course, I have to do that but decided to make it in a scheduled way.
The time period is an hour. As a result, I have an hour without distraction,
which caused a huge progress in my effectiveness.
Second issue was, forgetting about
not-so-important-but-still tasks to do, during the day. So every morning I
write-up to-do list and complete the tasks, one by one, throughout the whole
day.
The third issue
was(and still is), weariness which is the biggest enemy of focusing on tasks.
As we all know, the essential thing to do is getting appropriate rest and doing
some active time(sports etc.). It helps a lot but still I didn’t figure out the way it would satisfy me.
The last issue was non-task-related people calling me
too often. At the beginning I was answering the phone
trying to explain that I had no time but it didn’t work out properly. I just
decided to rejected unwanted calls.
All those tips are in some way useful but I think I
could use more. So here comes the one unexpected question:
1. Do
you have any tips & tricks to stay focused and boost the effectiveness?
Sources:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/9742180.stmhttp://www.infogineering.net/understanding-information-overload.htm
Excess tasks or information causes stress. There are many ways to deal with it. I think the best part is at the beginning of time management and the consideration of the so-called free time. Which will allow us to relax not only the body but the mind as well. Time management is also important at a time when we have a lot of responsibilities, it allows us to anticipate events. In the pursuit of life, we forget to breathe normally. Continuous race of life reduces our ability in every sphere of life. Memory and logical thinking sit down as quickly as our emotions.
ReplyDeleteAnother way drugs are, of course, we are talking about the legal :).
Coffee, strong tea or herbs are the basis for my opinion. But I think it is the best sport. Nothing clears the mind and allows them to work intensively as a daily dose of intense sport.
Women often use chocolate as a hormone of happiness, good for everything.
Since childhood I have a lot of troubles with my concentration. However, every year is getting better, and now I am able to concentrate more on my work or school than before. It seems to me that the concentration and work efficiency depend on what one does, exactly on whether person is interested in the thing/work that he/she is doing or not. At the school or at the university there are many things or subjects that are completely outside of my personal interests, and even though I go to the lectures I still cannot remember anything from them… The sad truth is that when you have many activities and other responsibilities you have to make priorities, and decide what is rally important to you and what is less important. Taking too much responsibilities and works on you, never end good for your both physical and mental health. Also, I do agree with Przemek, who said that the free time is the key! Since people cannot forget about relaxation and taking a rest from time to time.
ReplyDeleteIf I have a lot of work on me, there are only two solutions that work for me to stay awake and full of energy: a hot bath and short naps. I know that not everyone is able to doze off during the day, yet, I am really great at taking short naps, or so-called power naps. :)
Realistic time planning and relaxing, it's that simple as soon as you figure out what's the best way to 'reset' yourself and in effect reduce problems with information overload. Taking notes in your calendar, making daily to do lists and prioritising is the key to be organized. Also checking emails every minute is not the best way to deal with them, it may look cool at the beginning but there are no real advantages of that. If you're not responding for them right away (which is almost impossible with important mails - you have to stop your current task and focus on the email context) you're just wasting time on reading them since you're just going to read them again before replying.
ReplyDeleteFacebook? I fail to see anything good from facebook, one big time wasting place. It's just way too easy to contact other people there. Close that tab.
If you're like me, leave your phone out of your sight (but not too hard, in case of emergency you might want to be reachable), put your headphones on with not-so-distracting music on and do your job. If you're tired - take a break, make yourself a cup of tea. Just don't look back into emails until you're done.
Did you try some of these: IDKFA, IDBEHOLDI or IDBEHOLDA ? :)
ReplyDeleteAnd being more serious, did you try to prepare yourself "place-to-work"? This should be specific place in your home where what you only do is working. It really could only contain desk and chair and it don't have to be whole room it could be some separated space.
What is important is that you shouldn't see any unnecesery things when you work there like TV, phone or PC (if you don't really need them).
Another "rule" is to do nothing else there but work, don't talk, sleep, eat only work. If you want to relax you should go something else.
After some time (about one week) you will see that when you go to your "work place" you will be focused and you will want to work. Your whole body and brain will know that now is time to work, because of the place where you are.
This is how human body works :) That is why some people "feel sleepy" only in their room and are hungry in the kitchen.
With this problem I meet on a daily basis at work. Here's my advice:
ReplyDelete1) Create a list of tasks early in the day and try to complete them all day.
2) If you go into the task, turn off the channels you are not using while working on the task (eg e-mail, facebook, etc)
3) If you do not sit alone in a room, buy some good headphones and music. Soundproofing the sound of the room and listening to music will help you to focus on two threads (work and music) and not on the work and discussions that take place in the room.
4) Learn to prioritize tasks.
5) Learn assertiveness.
If you are not able to use those points to think about changing jobs. Multithreading is often interferes with work. However, the topics will help in the organization of tasks and management team.
Nothing more to add to previous comments. You have to make a "todo" list, give your tasks priorities and create some alternative plan. But of course this is just a ideal world. If you have too much to do, the best way to go through all the tasks completely is to chill out, forget about the stress, don't think too much about the deadline, don't think about priorities. You should make the todo list once and not think about the rest of the tasks while doing one.
ReplyDelete"I have 99 problems, but the... ekhm! information overload ain't one" :)
ReplyDeleteI dont watch TV, I don't have FB account (or any social network account for that matter). I just select the information I need and try to avoid the rest as much as possible. This sometimes causes people to consider me as anti-social person which is not true. I just dont find any pleasure in talking about meaningless bull... There is so much crap on TV, on news. Instead of living their own lives - people are drawning in all bunch of useless information.
I don't have any advice for those that are overwhelmed with information, because I never had this problem. Maybe it's a matter of learning how to be more selective. Don't swallow everything they throw at you :)
There are many tips that a man focused on the responsibilities of data that's my list of examples that work for me:
ReplyDelete1) If I have a lot of work to collate, stuff from the less important the more and do the ones that will take me more time.
2) If you can not focus on a given task, turn on your favorite music on the headphones, then much easier to cut off from reality :)
3) Turn off the phone, so friends do not have contact with you, especially if it is a weekend;)
4) Do not put a lot of activities on the week, because we know if we have the least free time :)
5) If you work for a large part of your day, take breaks, which allow you to take a break from exercise.
There are many different boards, but I think for these to be the most specific and the most help man :)
Nowadays,we live in a pretty stressful world, when there is never enough time to do everything. You can get stressed out only from thinking about tasks that need to be done. Personally, I try to stay calm and focus on important things. At work I start my day with doing to-do-list where I prioritize items which need to be done first. The list allows me to stay focus and organized. Furthermore, I keep my phone off so I do not get distracted. Those are little things,yet, help a lot. At home I do my best to calm down and relax so I can rest mentally and physically. Getting enough sleep is another item on my list which gives me energy and allow to function properly. I would say that those little tricks help me stay sane.
ReplyDeleteWell, I agree that this is very common problem in our reality- information overload. I believe that it is caused by the pressure of the society e.g. since every single person in our surrounding needs to spend a lot of time on facebook, checking emails etc. then we all do that. Even if we do not feel this need. Automatically, we get addicted to that. Multitasking is something we are used to because of being raised up in more ‘modern’ world than our forebears. People who experience being unable to focus, when they are busy and are to do something important, see how it damages the process of thinking about one particular task. Then, they start to think how to improve their dealing with distractions. Your tricks seem to be very efficient and I also practice some of them, like e.g. making a to-do list and then organizing my day in such a way that would enable be to complete all of the tasks that I had decided to do that day. Of course, we should take the priorities into account while making the list. I also believe that sufficient time of sleep is crucial. I have read that if we sleep less than 8 hours, then our attention span shrink and we need twice as much time to learn something than we would need if we slept 8 hours. Actually, I do not think that 8 hours is so necessary but less than 6 is obviously too less. At least in my case. Being active is also important as our brains work efficiently as long as they have oxygen supply. And, of course, regulated diet and mealtime help as well. It provides indispensable vitamins and minerals. Concluding, concentration needs our help, especially in the days of the Internet and other distractions and we should face this problem.
ReplyDeleteIt nice to know that I'm not the only one with those kind of problems. The main one was, and still is - time management. My way to handle it is creating "to do list". I keep a couple of different of those. The first one is for tasks that I must do this week. Another one is for tasks that I have to do this month. As things get done or become non-issues, I cross them off. I try to get through it every week, but whatever I don't get to one week, gets transfered to the top of the following list. What is most important, you have to make realistic list.
ReplyDeleteInformation overload is a big issue. It affect a lot of people. especially in era of highly accesible internet and mobile devices we are exposed more than ever on distracters. This can lower our efficiency in every day routine.
ReplyDeleteWe cancounteract, and limit our use of mobile devices, but often computer is indispensable, and it's hard to resist checking stuff on the internet.
There persons who are good at multitasking, but unfortunatly I'm not one of them. This Is why I had to start making a exact plan of my every day, it allowes me to work without being distract by my other duties, because I know that I have them included in scheduele on later. When I work I make 15 minutes break after every one hour of work in case to refresh my mind. I also dont spend more than three hours on one project, because after some time, ideas for this project will be exhausted.
These are my tips and trick to deal with information overload, but even though using them, it is still hard task to deal with.
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ReplyDeleteI have carefully read all of your posts and I see some good tips&tricks here. As well as you all I think that to-do list is the basic thing in time management, and is MUST-HAVE on my focusing tools list.
ReplyDeleteAs to information overload, it is true that we should turn off all social media and emails for the time we are focusing on our work, it’s not that easy especially if its connected to your work.
Of course, all of those tips&tricks wouldn’t work If we’re not interested in what we do, so choosing appropriate career path is crucial here.
Thank you all for your attention!
I think that information overload is a problem that many people aren't aware of. The fast progress of new technologies and availability of devices makes are slave of cellphones, facebook and many others. How many times you check before you got out of home if you have your phone with you? And advertisement - they are everywhere, we can spend a day without at least one of them unless you live in woods with no electronic devices. So how to stay focused? Everyone have to find their own way by trying. For sure writing to do list is very important because although we remember everything sometimes there is a gap in our mind, like when you going for a trip, you are packed and in train and thinking about what was forgotten to take. Our mind is very tricky, but also have a great possibilities
ReplyDelete