This week: Too Much Information

A recent international study found that half of all managers complain of "information overload" -- which increases already high levels of stress and can lead to ill health. Couldn't the same be said of most modern workers? Don't managers sometimes add to the glut of communication? And most importantly, how do you deal with the stress that comes from information overload?

See what Tripod members had to say about the role of labor unions in the last survey. For other past survey results, check our survey archive.

A new Work & Money survey is published each Wednesday.

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formicacid: Information overload comes from not being able to sort the information properly. You gotta know how to separate the useful from the useless. Like when I go into work and my boss starts telling me all about what needs done -- I just say "uh-huh", pretty much ignore her, and ask my co-workers what's up -- because they can explain it to me in normal terms. If I tried to listen to both parties I'd be overloaded and be that much more confused -- but since I can separate what I need from what I don't, I can get my job done.

ralphb: Staying informed is a bit like taking a drink from a fire hose. There's just so many sources of information; periodicals, online, radio, TV, and more. You have to learn to filter out what is unnecessary and focus in on what is important. This filtering is an ongoing process that can take a long time to learn, but is essential to handing data overload. Some of the new online information services (like Excite) let you customize what data you see, and even can learn over time what you like and don't like. Still, data that is not online has to be filtered manually.

Everyone has stress (whether they admit it or not!), and everyone handles stress differently. I do a lot of interviews for prospective employees, and I always ask how they handle stress. As long as they have a reasonable answer, it's OK with me. It doesn't matter whether they exercise, smoke, go into a conference room and yell, juggle, meditate, or whatever. If they deny that they have stress, or if they say that it doesn't bother them and they have no stress reduction techniques, that is a Red Flag to me. You have to do *something*.

Raj_N: Information overload plays a big part in adding stress to the everyday life of an individual. With changes in technology happening at such a fast pace, it is very difficult to keep up. But the jobs of today demand that we do, so we don't lag behind our competitors.

Knowledge is power, and those who can stay current in this ever-changing world of ours have the advantage over others.

MysticQueen: In a way, I have found that managers don't communiate enough -- or at least not clearly enough. And that is what contributes to the overload when trying to correct the original issue. To deal with the overload, I prioritize and also encourage those people/departments creating the glut of information to find a way to communiate that appeals to the right brain (clustering, colors, graphics) and that helps reduce the strain. Not to mention I do a LOT of deep breathing!

netgrlx: Information overload is when I spend over 21 hours a week at college -- and then when you go to work, there's just no more room left for your name much less all the stuff you are supposed to remember. You zone out and forget what you are supposed to be doing. Then you get in trouble.

bijukj: So much information that I don't know how to manage it !

DMacDonald: I agree that being able to sort quickly and ruthlessly is a big help in managing info. I used to file a lot of stuff I thought I "might" be able to use "someday" (like all the stuff I collected on DBMS before I realized people here just don't care and prefer their inefficient paper system). The other thing is I keep a list of other people who might be interested in particular things, and I forward stuff to them instead of filing/dealing with it myself. I would guess that about a third of the paper that comes through this office is adverts for seminars, publications etc. The folks I forward stuff to actually pick up on a fair amount of it. The old rule of don't even pick it up unless you're going to deal with it right away also helps keep the old cranium from getting too cluttered up. On the electronic side, never subscribe to anything. If you really care, you'll go check out the archive.

purestuff: Managers add to the glut of information like there's no tomorrow. They don't seem to understand that information doesn't flow (only) in the old traditional top-down patterns, not anymore (where the managers filtered info. down to their employees).

Nowadays I deal with at least 6 other departments directly, and have to manage the information flow between all of them. My manager continues to act as if only when she steps in does work gets done -- otherwise it's just chit-chat.

I think that many managers still hold on to the outdated ideals of yesteryear, and long for the days when they controlled the every action of their employees. We're usually smarter than many of them (or just have a better grasp on what was going on). I think that those lies have finally caught up with them, and now employees do so much on their own that managers become placeholders.

These are the 'bad' managers. There are certainly managers who are in touch, delegate well, and give their employees the right amount of freedom and leadership. But those are rare.

awasik: I work two jobs and I can tell you that most of the managers contribute to my everyday stress. I get information overload from them. How can one person handle the responsibilities of two jobs with too much information? I do it by calling in sick!

tmar: As a person who is very thorough and wants to have all the information before making a decision, I'm finding that I'm spending more time collecting and organizing information than I am reading and using it. This is becoming a major problem in my life, interfering with my productivity. Some of the factors contributing to this include a compulsion about wanting to use the best resources available and make the best choices, and a fear of "what if I need it and it isn't there?" -- a fear that stems from early deprivation experiences which lead to a need to consume as a means to protect oneself against the fear of further deprivation.

I am attempting now to only acquire information (or make purchases) that I can reasonably be certain I will use within the next few weeks. Because I like to send useful resources to people I know, I now keep files on my computer (like MARY.txt) under a variety of names, and cut and paste useful URLs and article excerpts to those files, choosing every week or so to send out the files in message's entitled "your weekly goodie bag." This tendency is influenced by the satisfaction I get from being helpful to others, but I know I also need to set limits on it, stop collecting and saving information, and get back to work.

In order to do this, I have to learn to set limits -- which means coming to terms with the questions: What if I don't have it all, know it all? What if I'm not completely informed (as if anybody can be)? What if I miss out on something important? What if I need something in the future and have to make an effort to retrieve it because it's not so easily available?

What if I make decisions on the basis of a limited amount of information, rather than be paralyzed by attempting to process and synthesize too much? What if I am not always being a helpful resource to others? What if I start valuing doing and applying the knowledge I have over consuming more? What if I choose to focus on digestion and action and practical results rather than eating, consumption and continual organization of resources? What if USING the resources I have were more important to me than collecting more?

Sometimes we have to face the emotional issues beneath our behavior patterns, and make an active attempt to overcome habits of consumptions and accumulation which when out of control severely handicap us and lead us to lose track of our original aims. After all, what is the information FOR anyway?