Internet

82 Harvard Business Review

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September 2009

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OVERLOAD
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INFORMATION
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New research and novel techniques offer a lifeline to you and your organization. | by Paul Hemp

Death by
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Can everyone just stop whining about information overload? I mean, in the knowledge economy, information is our most valuable commodity.
And these days it’s available in almost infinite abundance, delivered automatically to our electronic devices or accessible with a few mouse clicks. So buck up, already! Wait a second: Can I just stop whining about information overload? The flood of information that swamps me daily seems to produce more pain than gain. And it’s not just the incoming tidal wave of e-mail messages and RSS feeds that causes me grief. It’s also the vast ocean of information I feel compelled to go out and explore in order to keep up in my job. Current research suggests that the surging volume of available information – and its interruption of people’s work – can adversely affect not only personal well-being but also decision making, innovation, and productivity. In one study, for example, people took an average of nearly 25 minutes to return to a work task after an e-mail interruption. That’s bad news for both individuals and their organizations. There’s hope, though. Innovative tools and techniques promise relief for those of us struggling with information inundation. Some are technological solutions – software that automatically sorts and prioritizes incoming e-mail, for instance – designed to regulate or divert the deluge. Others prevent people from drowning by getting them to change

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Stephen Webster

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Harvard Business Review 83

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the way they behave and think. Who knows: Maybe someday even I will enjoy swimming in the powerful currents of information that now threaten to pull me under.

The Problem for Individuals
Information