Managing Information Overload

Feeling stressed, and have too much to manage?

Workaholics are usually poor time managers, and doing too much at once can be the #1 time waster. I know this. Yet, what we know in our hearts we should do and what we actually live in this hectic, demanding, and overwhelming society are often different. Sometimes just coping seems impossible.

In my frenzied attempts to manage the multiple tasks of my business and personal life, I was delighted when my email management software added a �task� feature. Now I could list my �to do�s� on the screen that held me captive and keep them ever-present in my desktop sight and mind. To remember them would remind me to accomplish them, wouldn�t it? Funny how as the list grew, I had a way of not seeing the list anymore.

When I acquired a PDA � a personal digital assistant– that would sync with my desktop, I was overjoyed to think I could keep this ever-growing task list with me wherever I went � thinking that to have the tasks more accessible would help me to click them off more easily. This assumption gave me the shaky illusion that I had some control over my life. Imagine my dismay when I realized that this marvelous new technology just made it easier for me to accumulate more �to do�s� than I could possibly finish. Unless, that is, I accomplished one of the more recent �to do�s� which read: Create more hours in a day.

As the task list continued to grow and I filled my head with more information, I growled internally at my inability to get ahead of the game. I finally stopped spinning out of control long enough ask myself what really matters here? Am I making my life simpler with technology�s assistance or am I postponing the steps that will actually help me accomplish my goals? Maybe simply taking action, taking one step and making the uncomplicated decision to prioritize and move on one item is more important than tackling �more.�

Lesson One for the over-achieving me was to accept that less can be better. I realized that I had all the information and tools that I needed to move through my day, and that learning to trust that inner voice would return me to a gentler life. That letting my own inner strengths guide the order of my priorities instead of using exterior tools to manage my life would lead me to the happiness and fulfillment I was looking for.