Relief in sight

In 2010 a major global study of 1,700 white collar workers was conducted by LexisNexis, with the results showing 49% of professionals reported feeling dejected and frustrated at being unable to manage all the information that comes their way at work and said that if the amount of information they receive continues to increase, over half (51%) would soon reach a ‘breaking point’ where they can’t handle any more. Compared to the other markets surveyed, Australians spend more time receiving and managing information (54%) than actually using that information (46%).

“We see this ‘information rage’ as being driven by three things: a surfeit of information, the lack of relevance of the majority of that information, and the inability of organisational systems to deal with the information well,” Marc K. Peter, Director of Technology and Business Development at LexisNexis Pacific, said.

“From the figures, we can assume Australians are effectively spending less than two-and-a-half days a week actually doing their job and the rest of the time trawling through e-mails and other information, over half of which do not have direct relevance to their day-to-day priorities.”

Organisation is a skill that can be learned and is a skill all small business owners should obtain. Organisational systems will allow you to streamline your business both in terms of its operations and also in terms of how you and your staff deal with this overload of information.

Organisational systems expert Nikki White agrees that this is a fairly large problem.

"I see many small business owners who are incredibly busy and don’t have enough time in the day to get everything done. Once we implement a few systems and procedures for them to follow, they are amazed at how much extra time they have.” White says.

“Organisational systems are not to be feared, we specifically work with our clients to enhance their preferred mode of working. We are not out to sell high priced software or to ‘tech-up’ small businesses if they’re not ready for that.”

So if you are currently suffering from Information Rage here are a few tips to get you on your way:

• Clear your head of everything that you need to do (not only to-do tasks, but reminders, personal chores, birthdays etc). Write everything down on paper, lists, in a word document, whatever suits you. A clear head will allow you to concentrate on the task at hand with 100% attention and it is incredibly liberating!!
• Forget multi-tasking – it doesn’t work. Do one job at a time and concentrate on it. If you get interrupted, mark where you were up to and continue after the interruption.
• Use your calendar / diary not just for meetings. Block out time in your day where you will conduct any office duties that need to be done (being specific about what that task will be).
• Take off your email notification that appears at the bottom of the screen. Don’t check your emails every time a new one arrives, this breaks your concentration of the task at hand. Block out times in your day where you will read and address emails.

Nikki White is the director of The Heart Of, a small business consulting firm who specialise in assisting small business managers with organisationsal systems to streamline their business. She can be contacted on 0415 670 130.