In today's information age, it is clear that more people are working outside of normal office hours than before.
Rather than make it easier to get work done nine-to-five, the digital revolution means more information is received than ever before, and employees use various tethered and untethered devices to stay in touch.
Next year, in five years' time, or even in a decade, your hard drive will fail.
Rabin Ram is MD of the Xerox division at Bytes Document Solutions.
This has its upside and downside, and the downside tends to mean that people must deal with the amount of information being pushed to them.
Inspired by Xerox's “Future of Work”, here are nine tips to help save time and manage information overload:
1. Breathe. It may sound simple, but not enough people take the time to do it. So schedule breaks into your daily working routine. It helps productivity - even stepping away from your desk for a moment. Even a quick nap helps people regenerate and be more productive. Research (and common logic) supports this.
2. Simplify schedules. Try scheduling all meetings on specific days so there is more time on non-meeting days to process information coming in: it's much easier to focus when there isn't a meeting looming in 20 minutes. Conversely, it's almost impossible to clear work off your desk in a structured, managed, continuous fashion when you know there are meetings that will fragment the day. Nothing beats time at the desk.
3. Back it up. No information is worse than too much. Make sure there is a solution in place for regular backup. People only know the cost of not having backed up when their hard drive actually fails, and by then it's too late. And here's a tip: next year, in five years' time, or even in a decade, your hard drive will fail. Also, test the backup, and archive relentlessly.
4. De-clutter the desktop (both of them). File, pile or toss papers as soon as they are received. Scan and save important documents to reduce desktop clutter instead of filing. On the computer, consider getting rid of folders altogether and using desktop search engines to find things when needed.
5. Touch it once. Often, people waste time dealing with the same piece of information again and again. Respond as soon as it is received, put it in its file or delete it/shred it the first time you touch it.
6. Forget the free stuff. It comes at a price (e-mail garbage and unsolicited offers). Choose quality over quantity. Manage bills and accounts online and sign up for the do-not-call lists and the no-junk mail lists. People have rights in this regard, and they should be asserted.
7. Use tools. Make use of your phone for getting the right info at the right time. For instance, wasting time printing maps is not necessary if they can be accessed from your phone. GPS phones have the smarts to give the right information based on actual location. Print only when you actually have to. Also, apply spam filters relentlessly.
8. RSS reprieve. Sign up for an aggregator. It helps to see all the news in one place. Signing onto an RSS subscription feed will be one of the smartest decisions ever made.
9. Manage mobile madness. Use a mobile device with e-mail support to make hours away from the desk more productive. Keeping track of e-mail throughout the day can help anticipate future work, and take care of mini-projects as they arise instead of waiting until later to sift through a huge pile of e-mail. Today's smartphones tend to support e-mail push, so either buy a phone such as a BlackBerry, or a phone that replicates this type of technology. Most today can easily accommodate push, which is far superior to having to go and check e-mail every few minutes.
Tackling information overload is important for most global businesses today, tomorrow and five years from now. These findings will help people around the world leverage the tools they have today, and plan strategies and techniques that will enable effective collaboration and information management in the future.
The bad news is the sheer amount of information being pushed at people will only grow. The good news is much of what you don't need can be ignored, and you can focus only on what is needed.
Share