What is the best strategy to use when you get too much of Information ?
Answers
While we enjoy a growing capability to extract relevant information that supports our careers and our lives, most of what we encounter is of marginal value, at best, and often stands in the way of our goals and objectives. We don't have hours on end to contend with everything that competes for our attention; most days, it feels as if we don't have sufficient time at all.
Fortunately, we can employ 10 strategies in a manner that will be productive and even enjoyable and fight that information overload:
Contemplate in advance the kind of information you seek.
Identify the vital information carriers.
Streamline your intake capacity.
Beware of information crutches.
Establish a distribution system.
Be thoughtful when sending information.
Design responses.
Do away with paper.
Constantly review and update.
Acknowledge the benefits of remaining organized.
Contemplate in Advance the Kind of Information You Seek
Have a reasonable idea of the type of information you want and need to gather. Such information encompasses news about your industry or profession; notable product and service developments; significant regulations and new legislation; client, customer, or consumer-related information; special applications; intelligence on competitors; and emerging trends and prospects.
Identify the Vital Information Carriers
In every profession, identify a small number of key information sources, including publications, websites, blogs, and hard news sources, that cover what's occurring in the field. You’ll really only need three to four sources; you’d be surprised at the amount of coverage overlap you’ll see.
Streamline Your Intake Capacity
Once you recognize the kind of information you require and a handful of the best sources, you need to establish a methodical way of receiving, synthesizing, and applying such information that will benefit you, your team, and your organization.
Staying attuned to your goals and objectives and focusing on the kind of information that supports your efforts gives you the best chance to accomplish what you want. You might consider avoiding social networking, depending on your job functions. Your quest is to maintain a constant inflow of relevant information in as simple a manner as possible. Yes, on occasion you can give attention to peripheral issues. In general, however, focus on the information that will make a difference in your effectiveness.
Information Crutches
Many people have a predisposition to collect and retain information that confirms what they already believe or know to be true. They don't need to save such information; the practice is more like a reflex action. With the vast amounts of information on the Internet today and the power of search engines, it's not necessary to hang on to much.
More vital is the ability to find what you need in a hurry, which often requires only a few keystrokes. Retaining piles and files of hard copy information is of diminishing value and can impede your effectiveness. Moreover, files and information that you retain for more than 18 months often can be deleted with no detrimental effects.
Establish a Distribution System
As you rise in your career, you should not spend inordinate amounts of time gathering information. Much of what you seek can be identified, collected, and disseminated to you by junior staff. You can use them as information scouts and as a clipping service of sorts to preread for you.
Once freed from the constant task of identifying and assembling information, you're better able to think conceptually in ways that will help to propel your team, division, or department forward. This is especially true when introducing a new product, service, or delivery system.
Be Thoughtful When Sending Information
Sometimes the staggering amounts of information is due to our lack of organizing guidelines. Such guidelines could otherwise spare us from unnecessary, excessive exposure to information that does not support our current challenges.
Learn to be more discriminating when exchanging information. Try to eliminate acronyms, abbreviations, and jargon that can lead to misunderstandings, and limit the length of your correspondence with others by including only what is necessary to know. Overwhelming our recipients with information is no more welcome to them than when they overwhelm us. We also must encourage one another to stop CCing and BCCing when it is not necessary, and avoid submitting "FYI" kinds of messages altogether.
Design Responses
Throughout the course of your workweek, you'll receive many different types of requests. Many are routine, so you can automate your responses by using your email's signature function. Most email software programs today support at least 20 different signatures. You can create and save signatures by category that enable you to respond promptly and effectively to customers and clients. The signatures that you've developed can also be personalized to address the particulars of a specific inquiry.