15 tips to fight digital stress
7 June 2011
Read by 1740 persons
By constantly checking online information all day long—as most of us do—the risk of "infobesity" is real. Here are 15 tips to streamline our consumption of digital information and better resist stress.
Most workers spend most of their time in front of a computer and are regularly distracted by all sorts of emails. The flow of information—from advertisements to communications from the CEO—is now almost uninterrupted, with the risk of being gradually overwhelmed. Given the amount of information available, we are supposed to know everything about everything, at all times. Problematic for many workers, the situation is a real source of stress.
"Information today is so abundant and rich that it borders on indigestion. We consume more and more information but we are not happier for it. Digital consumption should receive as much attention as monitoring a balanced diet," explains Jim Stolze, a Dutch Internet expert. The neurotic appeasement of our thirst for information sometimes comes at the expense of more important things. "In the long run, we neglect offline activities to spend more time online," he adds.
The cult of instantaneity
We must resist this irrepressible desire to want to see everything, to know everything, says the Internet expert. According to him, the ability to create quality time for oneself and to concentrate is decreasing. Over-information can lead to overwork. Emails and text messages often burst in at the worst possible time. "They disrupt your schedule and distract you from your work. They overwhelm you with questions and additional tasks. It is difficult to resist the urge to respond immediately to satisfy this desire for instantaneity," comments J. Stolze.
The profusion of emails in particular exasperates more than one person. Your inbox is full of pending messages… Is it really useful to archive 10,000 messages from colleagues? They quickly become cumbersome. Here are 15 tips to avoid being carried away by an avalanche of digital information.
15 tips
1. Start by taking stock: can you spot important messages at first glance? Are you afraid of missing out on some crucial information? To overcome this stress, start by listing the topics that interest you most in order to better target your search for specific information.
2. The World Wide Web is so vast that you cannot reasonably read and know everything. It is impossible to take note of all the available information. Why not archive in Word the information that interests you most so that you can consult it when you need to?
3. Personalize your "homepage" with the internet addresses that interest you so that these websites appear as soon as you launch the search engine. This is very practical for going straight to the essentials.
4. The Firefox browser allows you to add bookmarks to certain pages and to classify them in a separate folder in order to access the sites that interest you directly. Bookmarks allow you to find them easily when you are surfing the internet.
5. To avoid being overwhelmed by the mass of information, learn to organize the information, to distinguish important emails from others. The workload will then seem less heavy.
6. Structure your mailbox. Do you receive an average of one hundred emails a day? Create folders "to delete", "to read" or "to know". Then you can classify each email in the appropriate folder. Immediately delete chain letters, advertisements and other spams. Classify detailed emails that seem interesting in the "to read" folder, emails that concern you primarily in "to know" and respond to urgent emails immediately after reading them. This is the best way to find important messages.
7. Process your emails at fixed times. Avoid reading them at any time of the day. This harms your concentration.
8. Deactivate (temporarily) your email when you are working in another software. Each second of distraction hinders your concentration to the detriment of the quality of the work you are doing. Concentration or a minimum of attention is essential to properly perform a task. You can concentrate entirely on what you are doing, without being interrupted by an email.
9. Be selective in sending emails in Cc. Cc recipients generally do not feel concerned. Only send an email in copy if you think it is important to inform the recipient.
10. Don't let yourself be distracted by interminable emails with attachments. Ask the sender exactly what they expect from you.
11. Be critical of your own email behavior. Is this email really necessary? If not, refrain from sending it. It is sometimes much simpler to talk about it in person to the person concerned.
12. In case of emergency, send a text message rather than an email. Your interlocutor generally has their mobile phone with them but does not always have access to a laptop or PC… The text message is very practical for sending short messages, the place and time of an appointment for example.
13. Close other software when you are doing specific work (in Word for example), so as not to be tempted by pop-ups or sounds to check your inbox.
14. Turn off your mobile phone or iPhone during personal interviews. Before going to bed, disconnect all multimedia devices. To avoid being disturbed by a text message or a sound signal during your all too rare moments of rest.
15. Unsubscribe from newsletters that you never read in order to limit the time wasted checking your inbox.
Posted online June 7, 2011
monargent.lecho.be
Most workers spend most of their time in front of a computer and are regularly distracted by all sorts of emails. The flow of information—from advertisements to communications from the CEO—is now almost uninterrupted, with the risk of being gradually overwhelmed. Given the amount of information available, we are supposed to know everything about everything, at all times. Problematic for many workers, the situation is a real source of stress.
"Information today is so abundant and rich that it borders on indigestion. We consume more and more information but we are not happier for it. Digital consumption should receive as much attention as monitoring a balanced diet," explains Jim Stolze, a Dutch Internet expert. The neurotic appeasement of our thirst for information sometimes comes at the expense of more important things. "In the long run, we neglect offline activities to spend more time online," he adds.
The cult of instantaneity
We must resist this irrepressible desire to want to see everything, to know everything, says the Internet expert. According to him, the ability to create quality time for oneself and to concentrate is decreasing. Over-information can lead to overwork. Emails and text messages often burst in at the worst possible time. "They disrupt your schedule and distract you from your work. They overwhelm you with questions and additional tasks. It is difficult to resist the urge to respond immediately to satisfy this desire for instantaneity," comments J. Stolze.
The profusion of emails in particular exasperates more than one person. Your inbox is full of pending messages… Is it really useful to archive 10,000 messages from colleagues? They quickly become cumbersome. Here are 15 tips to avoid being carried away by an avalanche of digital information.
15 tips
1. Start by taking stock: can you spot important messages at first glance? Are you afraid of missing out on some crucial information? To overcome this stress, start by listing the topics that interest you most in order to better target your search for specific information.
2. The World Wide Web is so vast that you cannot reasonably read and know everything. It is impossible to take note of all the available information. Why not archive in Word the information that interests you most so that you can consult it when you need to?
3. Personalize your "homepage" with the internet addresses that interest you so that these websites appear as soon as you launch the search engine. This is very practical for going straight to the essentials.
4. The Firefox browser allows you to add bookmarks to certain pages and to classify them in a separate folder in order to access the sites that interest you directly. Bookmarks allow you to find them easily when you are surfing the internet.
5. To avoid being overwhelmed by the mass of information, learn to organize the information, to distinguish important emails from others. The workload will then seem less heavy.
6. Structure your mailbox. Do you receive an average of one hundred emails a day? Create folders "to delete", "to read" or "to know". Then you can classify each email in the appropriate folder. Immediately delete chain letters, advertisements and other spams. Classify detailed emails that seem interesting in the "to read" folder, emails that concern you primarily in "to know" and respond to urgent emails immediately after reading them. This is the best way to find important messages.
7. Process your emails at fixed times. Avoid reading them at any time of the day. This harms your concentration.
8. Deactivate (temporarily) your email when you are working in another software. Each second of distraction hinders your concentration to the detriment of the quality of the work you are doing. Concentration or a minimum of attention is essential to properly perform a task. You can concentrate entirely on what you are doing, without being interrupted by an email.
9. Be selective in sending emails in Cc. Cc recipients generally do not feel concerned. Only send an email in copy if you think it is important to inform the recipient.
10. Don't let yourself be distracted by interminable emails with attachments. Ask the sender exactly what they expect from you.
11. Be critical of your own email behavior. Is this email really necessary? If not, refrain from sending it. It is sometimes much simpler to talk about it in person to the person concerned.
12. In case of emergency, send a text message rather than an email. Your interlocutor generally has their mobile phone with them but does not always have access to a laptop or PC… The text message is very practical for sending short messages, the place and time of an appointment for example.
13. Close other software when you are doing specific work (in Word for example), so as not to be tempted by pop-ups or sounds to check your inbox.
14. Turn off your mobile phone or iPhone during personal interviews. Before going to bed, disconnect all multimedia devices. To avoid being disturbed by a text message or a sound signal during your all too rare moments of rest.
15. Unsubscribe from newsletters that you never read in order to limit the time wasted checking your inbox.
Posted online June 7, 2011
monargent.lecho.be
