Information Overload: How to Overcome Information Overload

Information overload—also known as infoxication—is the idea that too much information impairs decision-making. Since people have limited processing capacity, excessive information can have a negative impact on work performance by making it difficult to find or focus on relevant information.

The term “information overload” dates back to at least 1964, the year that it appeared in Bertram Gross’s The Managing of Organizations. Futurist Alvin Toffler expanded on the concept in the 1970 book Future Shock, which identified how rapidly changing information affects decision-making. These works emerged in the wake of major advances like computers, but the idea of information overload predates such technology—throughout history, concern over excessive information arose whenever new methodologies or formats for sharing ideas emerged. For example, information overload intensified during the Renaissance with the advent of the printing press.

In the modern Information Age, we consume higher volumes of information on a daily basis due to technology that facilitates sharing, storing, and learning massive amounts of information in a short time. On one hand, advances like computers, the internet, and digital information systems make information more accessible than analog information architecture. But on the other hand, cheap, quick access to endless information dilutes the amount of relevant information we take in. As a result, we may get too overwhelmed to find the type of information we need.

There are a few reasons information overload occurs in our lives and at work, including:

• Too much information: The glut of information available is one of the main reasons for information overload. Since anyone can easily transmit and duplicate information online, internet users may reach their processing capacity just by sifting through irrelevant or false information.
• Too many channels of information: Constant notifications from apps, social media platforms, emails, and other sources of information can inundate you with more content than you can process in a workday. Toggling between platforms, while also keeping up with other information channels like phone calls and video conferencing, will likely pull your attention in too many directions to maintain a quality work performance.
• Lack of project management: One of the main causes of information overload is the inefficient information systems within an organization. Effectively coordinating the information that circulates between departments is an essential part of management because it keeps a team on task, filters out unnecessary information, and streamlines information sharing and storage.

Infoxication can have negative effects on people, including:

• Burnout: Multitasking across multiple channels and sources of information can negatively affect physical and mental well-being because infoxication leads to frustration, uncertainty, and restlessness.
• Information anxiety: The problem of information overload intensifies when you feel pressure to keep up with all available information, even though this is an impossible task.
• Poor decision-making: When the amount of information you take in exceeds your processing capacity, you have less mental energy to reason, plan, and think through the pros and cons of a decision. Decision makers benefit from access to accurate but limited information on a topic rather than all available information.

Here are a few ways to conquer information overload:

• Manage information. Information management requires that you identify what pieces of information to prioritize, and address those first. Try using existing functions within information technology—like filters in email and search engine—to weed out unnecessary information.
• Limit information gathering. To effectively process information, reduce your sources of information, the types of information you look for, and the amount of time you spend gathering information.
  
• Delegate responsibilities. Information processing works best when multiple team members find and handle aspects of it. For example, let each team member serve as a point of contact for all information related to one specific matter.

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