Overcoming Information Overload
By Eve Abbott
The New York Times reported that the average U.S. executive still wastes six working weeks a year shuffling paper piles and e-mail. That is 12% of that executive's paycheck! Even worse, that is 12% of their time traded for zero results.
For business owners intent on making their enterprise more profitable, this statistic rings alarm bells. By definition, executives can delegate tasks to someone else. Do you have people to delegate to? Whether you do or not, how much would your business improve with six more weeks each year invested in growing your business?
The frustration is clear in this comment from the vice president of an architectural firm: "I knew I was creating more work for myself than was necessary because of not having a systematic approach for dealing with the huge amount of time-critical information that arrives daily in the form of paper, files, reading materials and e-mail."
The volume of input can be overwhelming for experienced professionals in any industry. Here are the best-practice tips I shared with this vice president to help you overcome information overload.
The first information management lessons I learned as a kid came from the TV show M*A*S*H. The Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) teams had the best casualty save rates in history. Why? First, the MASH teams were only five miles from the frontlines. Second, all medical personnel used triage from injury site to recovery tent. The medical art of triage means asking the right questions at the right time, throughout any critical process.
In today's state of information pollution, triage is your key skill. One builder client (retired military) refers to his arriving e-mail and snail-mail as "INCOMING!" You must triage paper or computer files from arrival all the way to archives or backups.
If you feel like my clients and colleagues who say they are bleeding information at the seams, begin by putting a trashcan near your mail drop and junk everything you can first. You'll toss more if you stand up while recycling!
An interviewer once asked Albert Einstein why he didn't even know his home phone number. Einstein replied, "Because I do not use it." If you do not know how you will use the information piled in front of you, chances are good that by the time you do need it, that information will have changed.
Although most of us aren't geniuses, creating your own "Hot Questions to Melt Information Overload" is critical. Now, you can have "garbage in" and do better than "compost out" because you won't let it into your office systems.
HOT QUESTIONS TO MELT INFORMATION OVERLOAD
1. "Can I get this information elsewhere if I do need it?" If yes, recycle it or give it to a colleague or client, but let go of it.
2. "Can I use this directly in my current profession or business?" Most information is obsolete in six months — if not sooner.
3. "Now that I've read it and understand it, do I need to keep it?" Keep legally required records (contracts, personnel actions) and your tax/financial documents.
4. "Will I need to look at this paper/e-mail again because it's so complex (legal, statistical) that I will have to review it?" If not, TRASH.
5. "For whom am I taking this action?" Your boss or a colleague? Your $20,000- contract client OR a $1,000-contract client? Prioritize by WHO.
6. "When is this due?" When our brains prioritize, the due date is actually more important than the "what" that needs doing! Put "reminder information" by date into paper and e-mail Tickler systems.
Steelcase, Inc., experts have documented that 80% of the clutter in your work environment is disorganization; it's not lack of space. Do you know what put every piece of clutter in your office? It's a question, "What do I do with this?" that was never answered. All information clutter is a series of unmade decisions.
Enjoy being ruthless while applying my best-practice tips to overcoming information overload. No one asks better questions or makes better decisions than you. And no one deserves that six "extra" weeks a year more than you do!
Three Keys to Overcoming Information Overload
1. Turn off unused information channels. Get off e-mail lists. Take only the Sunday paper.
2. Triage all incoming information. Discard useless information immediately.
3. Get organized! If you like, sign up for my free productivity tips ezine at: abrainnewwaytowork.com/subscribe.html
October 2007 Builder Architect Edition Issue