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| Diego Cervo/ iStockPhotos |
Going Insane from Information Overload
by ManageSmarter
According to a new national survey, more than seven in 10 American workers feel inundated with information at their jobs, while more than two in five feel that they are headed for an information "breaking point." The survey of 650 white collar and knowledge workers found that employees across virtually every industry are affected by information overload.
Commissioned by LexisNexis, the 2008 Workplace Productivity Survey sought to examine the rising problem of information overload in professional fields. The results were hardly encouraging.
Some 62% of professionals report that they spend a lot of time sifting through irrelevant information to find what they need; 68% wish they could spend less time organizing information and more time using the information that comes their way; and 85% agree that not being able to access the right information at the right time is a huge time-waster. More than 40% of the survey participants indicate an inability to handle future increases in information flow.
While an average workday for white collar workers is 8.89 hours, the survey finds that on average, 7.89 working hours are used conducting research, attending meetings and searching for previously created documents. If that wasn't bad enough, white collar professionals spend an average of 2.3 hours daily conducting online research, with one in 10 spending four hours or more on an average day.
The information age has brought the American professional workforce to an information overload," says Mike Walsh, CEO of LexisNexis U.S. Legal Markets. "The results of the survey clearly suggest opportunities for American businesses to ease this growing burden by providing workers with the right technology, training and tools. Companies that take action on this issue will realize higher employee productivity and satisfaction."
The findings of the study are available online at
www.lexisnexis.com.
