Information overload: learning to take your time: August 05, 2002 issue of New Thinking

August 05, 2002 New Thinking:
Information overload: learning to take your time

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August 05, 2002

Information overload: learning to take your time

By Gerry McGovern

Today, we are compelled to act quickly. Acting quickly and acting intelligently are not necessarily the same thing. The more mobile calls we make and take, the more emails we receive and send, can make us less, not more, productive. To be successful we need to learn how to take our time.

When you are with someone and your mobile phone rings, do you:
(a) Turn it off?
(b) Answer it briefly?
(c) Answer it at your leisure?

With regard to your email, do you:
(a) Check it at predetermined times?
(b) Check it constantly while in the office?
(c) Check it even while you're mobile?

When you receive an important email, do you:
(a) Write a draft reply, wait and review, then reply?
(b) Think a little, then reply?
(c) Reply immediately?

If you chose (a) for all of the above, then you are taking your time. If you chose (c), then you have a hectic life.

I was once in a restaurant talking business to someone. An older man interrupted. "Never talk business over lunch," he advised. "Enjoy your food." We smiled, waited until he had moved away, then began talking business again.

I embraced the Silicon Valley lifestyle. If I wasn't living on the edge, I was taking up too much space. I accepted that speed was god and time was the devil. I even found value in the, 'don't worry, be crappy' principle, which espoused shipping the product fast and fixing problems later.

Silicon Valley is an awesome place. It has brilliant people and extraordinary energy. For a while, it seemed like the world had to become like Silicon Valley.

In the technology circles I moved in, work was the obsession. People who went home early were wimps. If you had a life outside work, there was something wrong with you. If you took holidays, you weren't committed enough.

All this extra work has not made us much more productive. I noticed that as each day wore on, I became more tired, less focused. Each day blurred into the next. And yet I felt that if I just kept putting in the long hours, success would inevitably follow.

During the last ten years, lots of good things have happened. During the same period, bad judgment has been rife. So many bad products were made. So much inferior work was done. Investments were made on a whim. The stock market lost all touch with reality. Trillions of dollars were lost.

What can we learn from the bust? Maybe, that racing faster on the work treadmill is not by definition a good thing. If you're tired, if you're pressed for time, then you are more likely to make poor decisions.

Good things still take time. Internet time was just another myth. It still takes time to build a solid business that delivers quality products and services. Taking your weekends off is not copping out, but is rather a vital way to refresh yourself. Decent holidays make you more productive in the long-term.

The next time you are about to say, "I'm too busy," ask yourself: Am I really too busy? Or have I not acquired the skill and experience to take my time?

Gerry McGovern

Note to readers: There will be no issue next week (August 12, 2002), as I will be on holidays

Next issue: Information overload: you need to get organized
Previous issue: Information overload: too much information, too little time

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It still takes time to build a solid business that delivers quality products and services.

Gerry McGovern's books are recommended reading at the following universities

Augustana College, United States
Brandeis University, United States
Drury University, United States
Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland
Indiana University, United States
Monash University, Australia
Northeastern University, United States
University of Applied Sciences, Germany
University of Regina, Canada
University of Teesside, UK
Manchester Metropolitan University

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