Just Say No to TMI

If you are in the "Business at the Speed of Information" world today, chances are you are struggling with TMI (too much information). However much you may want to be informed about everything that's going on, there is no way you can keep up on it all without increasing unnecessary stress and derailing your productivity.

I receive at least 200 emails a day. Some come from lawyers in Uganda looking to give me money. Some come from company ezines. Some come from listservs to which I've subscribed. And some -- not too many, but some -- come from customers! If I thought it were important to read and respond to every e-mail, I'd be spending at least eight hours a day doing that. By the time I would get done, I'd have zero energy left to actually work!

One recommendation I've found for handling a deluge of e-mails comes from Bill Jensen, author of "The Simplicity Survival Handbook". Don't read every word, he says. Instead, scan them with the purpose of discovering what action is being called for. "If the communication does not contain an action and a short-term date [to complete that action], ignore it."

This applies to all communications. If hitting "delete" makes you worry that you're missing something, do it anyway, he says. There is a 69% chance you'll get the same communication again, a 48% chance you'll get it a third time, and a 36% chance you'll have to show up at a meeting or event to review it.