posted on Friday, May 02, 2008 9:24 PM
by
AnjaliSastry
It's not your fault, it's all that information.....
A
research study finds that you can reduce the effects of information overload:
Information overload:
why some people seem to suffer more than others
in ACM International Conference Proceeding Series; Vol. 189 (Proceedings of the
4th Nordic conference on Human-computer interaction: changing roles.) Ruud
Janssen, Henk de Poot. 2006. p397 - 400.
We studied information overload among senior managers in an industrial company.
We used the critical incident collection technique to gather specific examples
of information overload and coping strategies. We then used textual
interpretation and the affinity diagram technique to interpret the interviews
and to categorize our respondents, the critical incidents they described, and
the coping strategies they mentioned. Our results show that the extent to which
people suffer from information overload is closely related to the strategies
they use to deal with it.
In
other words, you can do something about it!
One
doctor has argued that the explosion of interruptions, input, and information has
generated a sort of Culturally-Induced Attention Deficit Trait. As one
web site put it, our poor brains just can't handle it all, and need time off,
less stimulation, more sleep, and more fun, among other things. How to control ADT’s ravaging impact on performance?
The doctor, Ed Hallowell.,
suggests:
Foster positive emotions by connecting face-to-face with people you like throughout the day.
Take physical care of your brain by getting enough sleep, eating healthfully, and exercising regularly.
Organize for ADT, designating
part of each day for thinking and planning, and setting up your office to foster mental functioning (for example, keeping part of your desk clear at all times).
Overloaded
Circuits: Why Smart People Underperform, Edward M. Hallowell. 2005. Harvard
Business Review, January. Get the pdf via vera, or find a download here.
Abstract. Frenzied executives who fidget through
meetings, lose track of their appointments, and jab at the "door
close" button on the elevator aren't crazy – just crazed. They suffer from
a newly recognized neurological phenomenon that the author, a psychiatrist,
calls attention deficit trait, or ADT. It isn't an illness; it's purely a
response to the hyperkinetic environment in which we live. But it has become
epidemic in today's organizations. When a manager is desperately trying to deal
with more input than he possibly can, the brain and body get locked into a
reverberating circuit while the brain's frontal lobes lose their
sophistication, as if vinegar were added to wine. The result is black-and-white
thinking; perspective and shades of gray disappear. People with ADT have
difficulty staying organized, setting priorities, and managing time, and they
feel a constant low level of panic and guilt. It is possible to control ADT by
engineering one's environment and one's emotional and physical health. Make
time every few hours for a "human moment" – a face-to-face exchange
with a person you like. Get enough sleep, switch to a good diet, and get adequate
exercise. Break down large tasks into smaller ones, and keep a section of your
work space clear. Try keeping a portion of your day free of appointments and
e-mail.
Online,
quite a few places post their summaries and advice following this article: here
are a few worth looking at
Advice from a consulting
firm
A
detailed summary from an executive coaching firm
Another
take from a professional organization
Finally,
this may be a nice complement to our toolkit ideas: Ed Hallowell's advice on scheduling
(scroll down).
If
you want to learn more about ADT (and ADD), check out the Halowell center site.