The bane of info-stress
By Antarpreet Singh

INFORMATION, in the last few years, has emerged as the key resource for success. If we look around us we would quickly realise that there is too much of information around us. In a recent study conducted in the United States of America, it has been pointed out that US alone publishes over 3000 books every week, which is one-fifth of around 15,000 books produced all over the world. The Library of Congress catalogues over 7000 new items each day, including books, CDs, maps, films and journals etc.

Another study in the US points out that number of new technologies being produced in the country almost double every year. The number of sites on the Internet are showing an exponential growth in recent times. Likewise, many advertisements and product brochures are being produced every day. The list is endless. In all, it means we know less and less about the world with each passing day.

The information overload is severely affecting the quality of our lives. Information, though a great resource for our growth and development, is turning out to be a lethal stressor which would kill more people than cancer or AIDS, in the years to come. Dr Kimberly S. Young, executive director of the centre for online addiction in Bradford, Pennsylvania in an editorial in the October issue of a British Medical Journal for students, calls information explosion and Internet addiction a new phenomenon that many health professionals are unaware of and thus unprepared to treat effectively. This explosion is severely affecting our lives — irrespective of our age, sex, and professions. The medical community is just beginning to regard information as a deadly stressor.

The information overload has created a paradoxical situation for all of us. We need information to grow and succeed in a highly competitive environment of today. At the same time we also need to protect ourselves from this lethal stressor. Managing information in a way that we remain stress-free or at least keep our stress levels under check requires a balancing act. The following tips can help you to manage information effectively without getting overstressed:

lWith the growth of commercial on line services, use of e-mail has proliferated to the point where people find dozens of mail messages in their mail boxes, every morning. If you don’t regulate the flow of e-mails your mail box would be inundated by dozens of mails from a wide variety of sites. On an average it’s not possible for any net user to read more than 20 to 30 mails a day. Anything above that is stressful. So you must selectively receive mails and block all unwanted mail.

lAnother way of reducing information induced stress is by smartly controlling the spaces where information is stored. Think of your work place or your study room. You could store information on book racks, almirahs, folders, floppies and the hard disk of your computer. Regularly clean out these spaces, so that you are in control of the information you have stored. The availability of computer hard disks with large capacity has also caused lot of trash being stored in personal computers.

lAvoid taking in, too much information at once. We have the habit of surrendering nothing and keeping everything with us. We shouldn’t go beyond our normal capacity as far as information intake is concerned. People have the habit of downloading on to their hard disks whatever they find interesting on the Internet. We should go step by step and be discrete in selecting information at any given point of time.

lPeriodically review the information you have accumulated. You can form the habit of reviewing your personal information systems at the start of the week to get rid of any unwanted information. Review your business card albums to throw away unwanted cards, tear off the old reports, clean up your hard disk, throw away old diaries, magazines, journals unless you need these for further reference.

lThe Internet is turning out to be a source of unlimited information. We should learn to be quite selective while browsing the Net. If we remain focused it’s much easier to find the right information, otherwise you may spend hours surfing the Net without any end result.

lPeriodically review your subscription lists for magazines and journals. Cut it down to a number which you can comfortably handle without getting stressed. It’s difficult on an average to read more than a couple of magazines or journals in a week.

Information is a double-edged weapon. If you use it smartly, it would give you a competitive edge over rest of the world, otherwise you would be overwhelmed by the flow of information which may cause the stress levels to increase beyond control, thereby making you less effective than others. Information technology offers both benefits and detriments. It’s up to us to make best use of these tools for a better quality of life rather than leading disruptive and stressful lives.