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Information Overload Day – Monday 17 October

Today is Information Overload Day when around the world people are trying to combat this silent disease which is zapping our energy. Email is one of the major contributors to information overload. (Although social media now too plays a significant part.)

It’s easy to improve one’s own personal email management but to start really reducing email and hence information overload means engaging your colleagues and then the whole enterprise.

One way is to have an email good behaviour charter to which everyone adheres as closely as possible. Ours is called the Nine Ps of Email Best Practice. Anyone who has attended either a Brilliant Email or Take Control of Your Inbox session will be familiar with it.

Here are the five Ps which can help you make the most difference on Information Overload Day by reducing the rounds of email ping pong and unnecessary emails.

1. Put aside quality time to deal with email. Don’t let all those new emails derail your plan for the day.
2. Prioritise what emails you need and where they land in your inbox.
3. Provide time for the recipient. Don’t chase five minutes after sending. Allow at least 2 hours for a reply. If it’s that urgent – see 3.
4. Pick the right medium. Email might be the easiest option but it is often the most inappropriate and inefficient.
5. Pen your email in plain language. This significantly reduces the rounds of email ping pong.

Adopt these five Ps of good email behaviour across your working groups not just on Information Overload Day but everyday. This will significantly help reduce information (and email) overload which has become a burden on not just business but often our social lives too.

For more resources for Information Overload Day click here.

Tags: Brilliant Email, Email Good Behaviour, email overload, Information Overload Day, Take Control of Your Inbox

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