Shifting: Altering Our Perception of Information Overload

by Seb

 

It’s time for the next part in our series on strategies for coping with information overload, and this week we’ll be taking a look at ‘shifting’. Defined as ‘changing one’s perception of situation by accepting it as part of the job,’ shifting means accepting that the world we live in is fast-paced and data-rich, and that information overload is a fact of life.

Whatever industry you work in, and whatever your position is, you will have to cope with information overload. Employers expect us to perform a variety of tasks at lightning speed and to deal with whatever is thrown our way. Failure to keep up in the workplace can have serious consequences.

Think about how much time and energy you spend each week not doing tasks that you dislike or find difficult. Here are a few popular alternatives to actually getting on with the job at hand:

• Procrastinating or putting off the task in favour of less important activities
• Complaining to your colleagues about a task or your workload in general
• Worrying about a task and building it up in your mind as something terrible
• Delegating, or trying to, even when a task isn’t suitable to pass on to another

Generally, the tasks that we dread are actually not as bad as we think they’re going to be. Somehow we convince ourselves that particular tasks are going to be horrendous and unpleasant, but this is just our remembering selves biasing our evaluations, and it is often just a self-limiting belief.

Remember all the time and energy you spent not doing those tasks? Now imagine if you had channelled all that time and energy into actually getting on with your work. You’d already be making good progress with certain tasks, or may even have completed them, rather than feeling that sense of dread because you still have to make a start.

Shifting your perception of a task, and acknowledging that it is just a part of your job that you have to get on with, can help you to manage your workload and make you more productive. You may actually find that you enjoy these tasks once you get stuck into them, or at the very least, you’ll get a sense of achievement from completing them.

So How Does Shifting Work?

To make shifting work you should first consider your main motivation for going to work. By aligning your motivation for working with your workload, you can change your perception of the tasks you need to complete and make them more palatable. Here are a couple of examples.

• Example 1: Financial reward. Whatever other reasons people may have for going to work, financial reward is usually a key driver. Look at a task you need to complete and see if you can put a monetary value on it. This might mean looking at the amount of time it takes adjusted to your hourly rate or salary, or it might mean working out what kind of bonus payment you will receive from completing the task. Next time you have to complete that task, think of it as a payment for something you enjoy; for example ‘This task will pay for a great night out on Friday,’ or ‘This project will fund my ski trip in February.’
• Example 2: Career progression. Another common motivator for work is career and personal development. You can align work tasks with this motivator by viewing them as stepping stones to your next career move. Perhaps one of the tasks you dread is compiling a monthly report? Think about when you are realistically likely to get promoted or make a career move. One or two years? Decide how many monthly reports you need to produce before you change jobs and tick them off mentally as you proceed. Every report completed will take you one step closer to your next promotion.

This method works with a variety of motivators, including recognition and being valued for a job well done. In this case, imagine that every task completed helps you rise a little higher in your manager or employer’s estimation, while every task failed will cause you to sink a little lower.

Others want to take control of their job and to be able to work autonomously. By taking ownership of the tasks you need to complete and doing them in your own way, you are increasing your independence in the workplace.

Information overload is a fact of modern life and one that we all need to deal with. We waste a lot of time and energy worrying or complaining about the amount of work we need to do, the number of e-mails in our inboxes, the volume of queries we need to deal with, or the lack of time we have to do any of these things. Shifting the perception of our workload, viewing it as a necessary part of our job and aligning it with our motivation to work, can increase productivity and provide the satisfaction of a job well done.