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Is “Information Overload” Making Us Stupid? A Few Smart Tips


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inspired-work-david-harderANYONE can change? The real questions are:[su_spacer]
Can you dredge up a little courage?
Can you open your mind, just a little?

For those of us who answer “yes,” welcome to the world of growth. In this world, you will grow so much that you will not be the same person. Your life will not be the same. Your circumstances will change. Your old complaints will be replaced with far more interesting challenges. Most likely, you will be having fun.

Buried by The Golden Age of Information?

We have actually been complaining about it for 2,000 years:

What is the point of having countless books and libraries whose titles the owner could scarcely read through in a whole lifetime?[su_spacer]

–Seneca, Roman Philosopher (4 BC)

The growing “multitude of books which grow every day in a prodigious fashion” could prompt the kind of collapse that befell Seneca’s civilization, leading to Visgoth-style barbarism.[su_spacer]

–Adrien Baillet, French Scholar (1685)

One of the effects of living with electric information is that we live habitually in a state of information overload. There’s always more than you can cope with.[su_spacer]

–Marshall McLuhan

Recent statistics from Harvard Business Review indicate:

[message type=”custom” width=”100%” start_color=”#F0F0F0 ” end_color=”#F0F0F0 ” border=”#BBBBBB” color=”#333333″]

  • Ringing phones and e-mail alerts lower IQs by 10 points
  • Knowledge workers average 20 hours a week managing e-mail
  • Information overload costs the U.S. economy $900 billion a year
  • 60% of computer users check e-mail in the bathroom
  • A typical knowledge worker turns to e-mail 50-100 times a day
  • 85% of computer users say they would take a laptop on vacation
  • Employees consider 1 in 3 e-mails unnecessary
  • Information is the single biggest productivity “disrupter” in the world.[/message][su_spacer]

Information is toppling dictatorships, corrupt politicians and fake leaders. Information is educating anyone with initiative in how to stay ahead of the game.

A few years ago a Stanford Behavioral Science study indicated the average American doubles their knowledge every 4-6 years. We cannot find any bookmark in history that indicates how we use that awareness in career development. Those of us who make use of the information available at our fingertips can outgrow our work and our expectations in very short periods of time.

Properly managed, information has the power to transform our lives and our careers.

But, the study and related studies about information overload indicate that while many of us are inundated with information, very few of us do much to filter it. Does that mean many of our heads are filled with junk?

How many people know more about Kim Kardahsian’s whereabouts than the name of their congressional and senatorial representatives?

You know the answer!

It seems that many of us could use a few skills in better managing the information that reaches us.

Here are three suggestions:

Become more selective of individuals you bring into your social networking circle.
Empty your e-mail folder every day
Emptying your file each day saves time and makes life easier.[su_spacer]

Don’t worry, if you missed something important, it will find you.

Filter! Filter! Filter!

Learn to use e-mail filters and you will see less junk.

Now, back to surfing.

© Copyright 2016, Inspired Work, Inc. (All Rights Reserved)
David Harder
David Harderhttp://www.inspiredworkservices.com
DAVID founded Inspired Work in 1990, which has helped over 42,000 professionals transform their relationship towards work. Individuals from all walks of life attend Inspired Work’s public programs to launch new careers, new business or to become more successful in their existing role. He views work as a profound opportunity to become more fulfilled, contributive and effective. Mr. Harder’s leadership, employee engagement, executive development and social networking programs are used in a wide variety of organizations including The Walt Disney Company, HBO, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Loyola Marymount University, University of Southern California, The United Church of Religious Science, Morgan Stanley, and many others. Inspired Work’s leadership programs, career development and team building programs produce some of the worlds most outstanding satisfaction numbers in any business: 92.6% out of a hundred. David has appeared on many business and human-interest programs including CNN, KTLA News, KFWB News and Business News Network. David’s book, new book, The Workplace Engagement Solution (Career Press) offers an entire “crack-the-code” approach to engagement.

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CONVERSATIONS

  1. Scientists tell us we have millions of brain cells & capacity phenomenally more than we use – but let’s be honest. When we get overloaded we are like circuits that trip & shut down when the amp exceeds capacity. I think my favorite takeaway from article is this truth. If you delete something important from your inbox don’t worry. It will find you again. So clean out those emails. Have no fear.

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