The Diary of Anne Ku25
June 2000 Sunday INFORMATION
OVERLOAD What causes information
overload? - not enough time:
information arrives faster than we can process it
- fear
that we might miss out ("kia soo") thus we keep everything for later
- greed
that we need to have it when we need it, so-called "convenience yield"
otherwise we have to go out and get it
- most
of the stuff isn't relevant; it takes effort to sort
- most
of the stuff requires effort just to process cognitively
- direct
marketing, email spamming - once you get on someone's list, it's hard to get off
- Category
C: some things we just don't like to do and we leave it until we absolutely
have to
- can't prioritise:
everything is urgent or of the same priority
When
I first start a project, I try to get as much relevant information as possible.
Even after I finish the project, information is still flowing in. These
days, if I don't clear my in-tray right away, I am faced with having to deal with:
| | email | voicemail | snail
mail | face
to face | | office
| high | low | low | high |
| home
| high | medium | high | low |
| analyticalQ
| high | - | - | - |
| forwarded
| - | - | low | - |
| yesterday tomorrow |