Coping with Infoglut
应对信息过载
Information overload - The ability to produce information is outstripping managers' ability to process it (information).
信息过载 - 产生信息的能力超过了管理者处理信息的能力。
The causes of information overload
If it isn’t announced by a ring, beep, or flash, on your telephone, it’s delivered to your front desk by a person in a uniform. If it isn’t spat out by a machine that looks like a printer, but takes phone calls, it’s transmitted to your PC, announced perhaps by a little toot of arrival. Welcome to the Age of Infoglut. Every day, managers are deluged by E-mails, faxes, post, voice mail. Just sorting everything out adds hours to a workweek–and stress to a psyche. One British psychologist claims to have identified a new mental disorder caused by too much information; he calls it Information Fatigue Syndrome.
信息过载的原因
如果你的电话没有响起铃声、哔哔声或闪光灯，信息也会被一个穿制服的人送到你的前台。如果不是由一台看起来像打印机的机器吐出来的，而是接电话，信息也会被传输到你的电脑上，也许还有一点嘟嘟声来宣布信息来了。欢迎来到信息过载时代。每天，经理们都被电子邮件、传真、邮件和语音邮件淹没。只是把每一件事整理出来，就会增加一周的工作时间，也会给心理造成压力。一位英国心理学家声称，他发现了一种由信息过多引起的新的精神障碍，他称之为信息疲劳综合症。
The scale of the problem
Of course, companies thrive on information, and have encouraged the development of systems to produce, store, and analyze it. A recent study by Pitney Bowes, in Stamford, Connecticut, found that the average white-collar worker at a Fortune 1,000 company sends and receives an average of 190 messages a day, in a variety of electronic and paper formats. “It has become completely overwhelming,” says Sheryl Battles, executive director of external affairs at Pitney Bowes. She reported that trying to manage the volume of information is redefining productivity in the office as we know it. In a knowledge economy, the real goal is to get through all the messages. “The infoglut has especially affected senior-level executives”, adds Battles. More than ever, managers need strategies for identifying and prioritizing.
问题的规模
当然，公司依靠信息而蓬勃发展，并鼓励开发系统来生产，存储和分析信息。康涅狄格州斯坦福的皮特尼鲍斯（Pitney Bowes）<一家研究机构>最近的一项研究发现，财富1000强公司的普通白领平均每天发送和接收190条电子和纸质格式的消息。"这已经变得完全势不可挡，"皮特尼鲍斯外部事务执行董事Sheryl Battles说。她报告说，正如我们所知，尽力管理信息量正在重新定义办公室的工作效率。在知识经济中，真正的目标是处理（理解）所有信息。"信息过载尤其影响高级管理人员，"Battles补充道。管理者比以往任何时候都更需要一些识别和确定优先级的策略。
When in doubt, ask the boss.
E-mail is a primary culprit. In the past, lower-level workers would never have dreamed of interrupting the CFO with mundane questions, such as whether hotel movies can be expensed. “Today, however, those workers have no problem asking such questions via E-mail, which is perceived to be less intrusive,” says Battles. It should be noted, however, that some executives have turned E-mail to their advantage, finding in the medium a new and convenient way of running a business. Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, for instance, reportedly spends hours a day reading and sending E-mail.
如有疑问，请询问老板。
电子邮件是罪魁祸首。在过去，低层员工做梦也不会想到用诸如在酒店看电影是否可以报销之类的世俗问题打扰公司首席财务官。“然而，如今，这些员工通过电子邮件问诸如此类的问题却毫无问题，因为电子邮件被认为侵扰性较低，”Battles 说。然而，值得注意的是，一些管理人员已经把电子邮件变成了他们的优势，在邮件这一媒介中找到了一种新的和方便的经营企业的方式。例如，据报道，微软首席执行官比尔盖茨每天花数小时阅读和发送电子邮件。
Making matters worse
The study also identified something Pitney Bowes calls messaging meltdown. That’s when people try to reinforce their messages with other messages. For example, they might leave you a voicemail message that they are faxing a report. In addition, they might also send the report via E-mail. Then, they might make a follow-up phone call to make sure you received the fax and the E-mail.
让事情变得更糟
这项研究还发现了皮特尼鲍斯（Pitney Bowes）称之为“信息崩溃”的东西。有时候人们试图用其他信息来强化他们的信息。例如，他们可能会给你留一条语音邮件，告诉你他们正在传真一份报告。此外，他们也可能通过电子邮件发送报告。然后，他们可能会打一个后续电话，以确保你收到了传真和电子邮件。
A day in the life of an information age
Arlen Henock, Chief Tax Counsel at Pitney Bowes, didn’t need a survey to find out which way the data is flowing. He said that there has been a significant increase over the last few years in his office. He also admitted that dealing with the flow has crept into his personal time. “Each night I take home my faxes and other paperwork,” says Henock. During a typical workday, Henock is a self-admitted information junkie. He gets up at 6:00 a.m. and, over breakfast, finishes reading any paperwork leftover from the night before. On the way to work, he checks his voice mail with his car cell phone and responds to any messages that need immediate attention. “Although I check my voice mail before I leave for home [typically at 7:30 p.m.], there are usually new messages in the morning,” he says. Europe, after all, has been up for hours.
信息时代生活中的一天
皮特尼鲍斯（Pitney Bowes）的首席税务顾问阿伦海诺克（Arlen Henock）不需要通过调查就能发现数据的流向。他说，过去几年来，在他的办公室工作的人数大幅增加。他还承认，处理“信息流”已经悄悄占用了他的私人时间。“每天晚上我把传真和其他文件带回家，”海诺克（Henock）说。赫诺克自我承认是一个信息迷，一个典型的工作日，他早上 6 点起床，一边吃早饭，一边读完前一天晚上剩下的文件。在上班的路上，他会用车载手机查听语音信箱，并回复任何需要立即关注的信息。“虽然我在回家前（通常在晚上 7 : 30 ）查听语音邮件，但通常早晨又会有新消息，”他说。毕竟，欧洲已经起床好几个小时了（因为欧美之间有时差）。
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