You're
halfway through another magazine, another blizzard
of words. Then there are the e-mails, streams of faxes and telephone
messages, the backlog
of newspapers, the 24-hour rolling news updates. And you begin
to wonder: what's really important? 
The main shortcoming of today's information culture, where
data is measured by volume rather than quality, is not the
availability of "facts" but their lack of relevance
to you. This isn't surprising when you consider that a weekday
edition of a newspaper probably contains as much information
as the average seventeenth-century person would have come
across in his or her entire lifetime.
On average, people in industrialized economies are now exposed
to at least 1000 advertising messages a day, and a recent
study found that the average corporate worker's day involves
191 messages, including 51 phone calls, 39 e-mails, 16 internal
memos and 20 items of external mail.
David Shenk, who coined the phrase "data smog"
in his book of the same name, believes this deluge of information
dulls the mind, making it harder to apply oneself to the facts
that really matter. Suffering from such an deluge is even
medically recognised as "information fatigue syndrome."
Recognizing Information Overload
Many of us are so used to being bombarded with data that
it's hard to accept something is amiss. A quick test is
to pause at the end of the day and try to recollect every
instance that you were exposed to information you'll need
to remember tomorrow. If you can't recall much of it, then
something has to change.
Do you take work or related reading material to bed with
you? If so, you are not handling your information properly
during the day.
Do you find individual names, numbers or ideas blur together,
or get mixed up with each other?
Do you overcomplicate issues by drowning them in details?
"Fear can lead us to perfectionism when we should really
be simplifying, getting to the core of a matter."
Do you feel you are wasting time when you just sit somewhere,
not reading? Some people see such moments as idleness, but
the brain needs time to assimilate the day's intake.
Clearing the data smog at work
Your e-mail program can be set to filter incoming messages.
For example, junk can go in one file (say the trash), personal
messages can fill another and anything from your boss can
drop into the urgent folder.
It will save you reading messages that could be saved until
later.
Learn to ignore junk e-mails and unsolicited messages.
You might miss something, but in the long run you'll be more
focused and effective. Don't leave messages sitting in your
inbox- act on them immediately to avoid opening them more
than once.
Rip out the magazine articles you really want to read. Once
they're detached from the rest of the publication, you won't
risk accidentally reading the useless stuff again.
Learn how to use Internet search engines efficiently. Most
have help sections that will teach you how to make the most
of your search.
How not to contribute to the smog
Think about the best way to contact people. Can the information
be delivered most directly and efficiently by telephone, e-mail
or fax, or can you just drop it in the mail?
Write concisely. Verbosity wastes everyone's time.
Update the subject of an e-mail to show how the conversation
has moved on. That way the recipient can briefly assess whether
they should read the message now or later. Blank subject fields
and "Re:" messages more likely to be ignored.
Do not forward chain letters, jokes or claims that Bill
Gates will send everyone thousands of dollars. These clog
up inboxes needlessly. Double-check the "To:"
field of your e-mails. Not only can you save recipients from
irrelevant information, you'll also avoid the embarrassment
of a private message sent to the wrong person.
(643 words)
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