Information Overload Will Eat You Up If You Don't Gain Control

Information overload is a very real problem in both the workplace and in life in general. When you are working crazy hours as a nurse or parametric, the stress that surrounds the job demands is enough to trigger information overload. Add to that all the external everyday stresses like paying your bills, cleaning, dealing with family issues, and trying to get your errands done, and you will quickly discover you are living in information overload.

According to experts at infogineering.net, information overload is when you are constantly trying to deal with more information than you can process. It's where you are literally going in every direction all at once. And the result is you either just stop making decisions, or you start desperately making the wrong decisions. Neither option is good.

Keep in mind information overload is very different from sensory overload. With sensory overload your head is overloaded with sounds, sensations, and images that you just can't turn off. Your body and mind were made to handle this. But with information overload you are forced to deal with external pressures and stresses that your system just can't handle or process fast enough.

Who suffers from information overload?

*Everyone

*Busy professionals

*Shift workers like doctors and nurses

*Working moms dealing with the demands of the workplace and family life

*Elderly people that don't have the mental capacity to handle the stresses associated with their every day

*Retired people that get overwhelmed with making new decisions

*Everyone that uses electronic devices

Simple causes include the Internet, e-mailing and texting, weak information sources, and crap information instead of the facts. 

The average issue of the New York Times has more information in it that the average American use to run into in a life time in the late 1800’s.  As a society we are also learning that people are becoming less efficient with more information.

Solutions

There isn't an easy solution but there are things you can do to help reduce the issue.

• Stop learning the stuff you'd like to know and focus on what you need to know
• Choose quality information over quantity
• Learn to be more direct
• Focus on one thing at a time
• Delegate menial tasks

You can hire someone to get your groceries and plan your meals so you don't have to worry about eating healthy and regularly. Another option is to hire a professional to take care of your taxes for you and a bill paying service to take that stress off of you.

Every take action step you take to remove information overload from your day is going to free up clear space for you that's stress-free. Something to think about.