Tackling information overload.

• Position: Brief Article

You've been in back-to-back meetings and turn on your computer late in the day to find 50 e-mails screaming for your attention. Sound familiar? If you're feeling overwhelmed, you're not alone. A recent University of California study estimates that we produce 250 megabytes of information for each person on the planet every year. That's a lot of data.

Specializing in helping businesses transform that deluge into usable knowledge for business growth is Eiko Shaul, principal of Shaul InfoResearch (Tel: 416-544-0208; e-mail e.shaul@sympatico.ca). Here are some of her tips to help keep you afloat in this information-heavy age:

* Be ruthless in filtering information. Keep what is absolutely relevant and delete everything else. Don't hoard. It is the "just in case" syndrome that contributes to information overload.

* Use and optimize organizational tools. Make use of functions accompanying e-mail and Internet programs (e.g. Outlook Express) that allow you to organize, sort, automate, mark and perform other functions to make life easier. For example, tag "follow-up" flags to e-mail messages as reminders.

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