Productivity - Information overload

Information Overload: We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us

Information is the new currency of our society yet workers are drowning in information. A typical worker gets 200 e-mails, dozens of instant messages, multiple phone calls (office phone and mobile phone), and several text messages, not to mention the vast amount of content that he/she has to contend with.

Information overload has become a significant problem for companies of all sizes, with some large organizations losing billions of dollars each year in lower productivity and hampered innovation. Interruptions alone cost companies in the U.S. $650 billion per year.

It's not just a case of too much e-mail, too many interruptions, too many projects, and too much content. It's all these things clashing -- sometimes like an orchestra without a conductor.

This report looks at strategies companies can use to cope with information overload, including ten tips designed to ease the burden immediately.

"It's not unlike the game of Tetris, where the goal is to keep the blocks from piling up. You barely align one and another is ready to take its place."