5 Ways to Take Control of Information Overload
One question I'm commonly asked is "How do I handle the massive amounts of email and requests that I get on a daily basis?" Information overload is a common problem for most of us. In fact, in a recent survey respondents said that they can effectively manage about 50 emails per day. Unfortunately, the number of emails we actually receive is closer to 100 per day! Here are five tools to help you manage information overload.
1. Make fast decisions
Ask yourself "Is this information important?" (If not delete it!) Then ask, "What ACTION is required by me?" Answering these questions will allow you to quickly turn information into action.
2. Do unto others
Be a model of how you want others to contact you. It shows respect for their time and for yours. Here are some ideas . . .
Keep one system for your calendar and one for your tasks. Get into the habit of moving to-dos immediately to your task list and check it regularly. Don’t let information pile up in your inbox waiting for action.
4. Ruthlessly unsubscribe
That information is always there if you do a web search. Unsubscribe to everything that is not absolutely vital to your business.
5. Sync your devices
Invest in the time and money to have someone sync all of your devices. If you delete an email from your phone, it should also delete in your inbox. There’s no reason to have to do it twice.
1. Make fast decisions
Ask yourself "Is this information important?" (If not delete it!) Then ask, "What ACTION is required by me?" Answering these questions will allow you to quickly turn information into action.
2. Do unto others
Be a model of how you want others to contact you. It shows respect for their time and for yours. Here are some ideas . . .
- Keep messages short and easy to read.
- Clearly define what action you want from that person.
- Don’t CC or Reply All unless absolutely necessary.
- Write clear subject lines.
Keep one system for your calendar and one for your tasks. Get into the habit of moving to-dos immediately to your task list and check it regularly. Don’t let information pile up in your inbox waiting for action.
4. Ruthlessly unsubscribe
That information is always there if you do a web search. Unsubscribe to everything that is not absolutely vital to your business.
5. Sync your devices
Invest in the time and money to have someone sync all of your devices. If you delete an email from your phone, it should also delete in your inbox. There’s no reason to have to do it twice.
Posted by Erin Hoffman at June 16, 2011 
Categories: Email Efficiency, Productivity
Tags: action email productive to do information overload
Categories: Email Efficiency, Productivity
Tags: action email productive to do information overload
OMG! What is the program that will sync so my email deletes off my iPhone?
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Hi Linda,
Yes, you can sync your email so it deletes on all devices when you delete an email from your iPhone. It’s a little more complicated than one program. The solution I recommend for small businesses and individuals is a Hosted Exchange Server. In a nutshell, you have your email, calendar and tasks on an online server. This is the same kind of server that big companies have, but you “rent” a small piece of it. You can then sync your computer, iphone or any other device to that server. Anything up update on one device is automatically updated to all devices.
I've helped a lot of my clients get set up with this. Let me know if you want to discuss it in detail.
Thanks!
Erin
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Bummer, I can't read the column on the left! The blue is too dark...
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Thanks for your feedback. I really appreciate it. I'll look into changing the blue to a lighter color.
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