Information Coping Skills - How Information Overloaded Are You? Take This Quiz

I'm speaking at BlogHer Boston on Saturday.  I'm looking forward to finally meeting Maria Thurell in person and connecting again with Twitter maven Pistachio (Laura Fitton).   Even better the opportunity to see long-time BlogHer friends Liz Henry, Sarah Dopp, and many others.

So, this post is part of the presentation materials.  The session combines information coping with blog communty outreach.  Here's the description.

Blogging Basics: Managing Information Overload: How to find your blogging community
Join Beth Kanter, who has been writing about what she prefers to call "online information coping skills" since the 1990s, when we mostly had to worry about email. Now that blogging and social media and networking have taken over, Beth has evolved to cover how to develop both your online "listening" skills and your discovery skills. Find what really matters to you online, and keep track of it without driving yourself crazy.

I'm also excited because I have the excuse to update an information coping skills workshop that I used to teach all the time ten years ago when email was the primary cause of our information stress.   My outline is here.

One of the learning tools I created for the workshop was an information overload self-assessment, a simple quiz with yes/no questions that let folks diagnose the degree of information overload they were feeling.  I went back to the original and most of the questions were geared for Web 1.0.   So, I've tweaked the questions. 

So, here's what I'd like you to do - look at the questions and see if they make sense for social media and information overload and suggest changes.  I'm trying to look at social productivity here as well - there's a fine line there.   And, if you want, take the quiz, it is easy.  Answer yes or no to the questions below.   Count up the number of questions you responded with a "yes" and then see how information overloaded you are using this chart.    Leave me a comment with any tips or suggestions for reducing information overload.

1. When you open your email inbox, does it make you feel anxious about the work that you don't have time to do?
2. Do you open your email in the morning before having a to do list - and start to multi-task and forget what it was in the first place you wanted to accomplish?
3. Do you forget information or the names of online friends you need to know?
4. Do you finish reading your email or blogs with a frustrating feeling that only a small part of what you read was really relevant to you?
5. Do you ever wish the web or social media would just go away?
6. Do you have email messages sitting in your inbox more than 6 months old that are "pending" further action or unread?
7. Do you sometimes wish you could read or type faster?
8. Do you experience frustration at the amount of electronic information you need to process daily?
9. Do you sit at your computer for longer than an hour at a time without getting up to take a break?
10. Do you constantly check your email, Twitter replies tab or other online servicebecause you are afraid that if you don't, you will become so far behind that you will never catch up?
11. Is the only time you're off line is when you are sleeping or going to the bathroom?
12. Do you feel that you often cannot concentrate?
13. Are you subscribed to so many blogs that you can't read them and it makes you feel bad?
14. Do you feel that you have to read word for word all information that comes into your email box or RSS reader or Twitter?
15. Are you always seeking out additional information from the Internet or friends online to support a decision or complete a project but never processing it all?
16. Do you get anxious if you are away from the Internet for too long?
17. Do you open up multiple tabs in your browser and then forget what you were going to do?
18. Is your email, google docs or hard drive filled with "virtual piles" of information or “drafts” that haven't been processed?
19. Are you afraid to delete email or old files because you're afraid you might just need it someday?Are you feeling "stupid" or "ignorant" more often than you'd like?
20. Are you able to locate electronic documents, blog posts, email messages or other online information that you need in the moment without wasting time playing "find the file"?

Comments

[Camilo]

Do you have a survey monkey on this? It is just impractical to answer yes to all, and truly, I do not have the time (TM)

As clarification, I do not feel bad about not reading all that avalanche of info: I get what I can, and let the noosphere catch the rest; the important bits will resurface again.

[Karen]

I started to take this quiz, but halfway through I forgot if I was keeping track of the yes or no responses. I intended to start it over, but the question about pending emails made me remember that I had started a task this morning and hadn't completed it.

[Michael Waugaman]

15 answers 'yes'. that's not good really, is it? :(

[Katbaloo]

question 15: i always check with my "fiends" online before any major decision...

turns out i have less bad habits than i thought. of course, i may have fudged a few nos.

Additional question: do you find yourself easily distracted by online resources that allow you to avoid other, pending work?

um, yes.

[Christine Egger]

Hi Beth,

Great questions/post. Only suggestions for the list: split 19 into two questions, and change 20 so a yes answer is an overload-indicator like the others.

I said yes to 10, and as feel that I really don't cope well with online-info-overload, I can't imagine how it would feel to score even higher! What's most helpful about these questions, the chart, and the reflection questions is how you're distinguishing between "amounts of information" and "our mindset as we interact with amounts of information." Several of the questions in your list hint that the feeling of overload isn't coming specifically from the amount of info, but about the mindset: in #13, for example, it's "feeling badly" about not keeping up with the blogs in our reader that needs to be coped with, not (necessarily) the number of blogs.

We're making value judgments not just about each piece of information but about how we're dealing with it, too. Stress (feeling overloaded and unable to copy) is often a side-affect of the assumptions -- the value judgments -- we bring to a task. It's a side-effect of the differential between what we think we SHOULD be able to to and what we're able to do. For me, I can tell that believing I should be able to read, process, LEARN from, and respond to much more of the info that comes to me than I can -- bringing that mindset with me every time I open my inbox, etc. -- that's what putting me just one "yes" away from needing help, according to your chart. And believing that I should be keeping up with many more opportunities to read, process, learn, and respond than I am is also keeping me from getting offline *often* to do the kind of deep, reflective, critical thinking about the new information that would really add value when I DO respond.

Sigh.

At least, reading your post, I feel I'm in good company. And recognizing I have a problem is an important part of the solution, right :)

Thanks for the post and the invitation to reflect, and for all you're doing to get new info-skills out to those of us who need them.

[Ashley Messick]

Great quiz, although to be honest the only one of my "Yes" answers that concerns me is that I do find myself anxious when away from the internet for too long. Is it bad that instead I just cope by using my iPhone?

One way that I have found works for me with managing my RSS feeds is to use Google Reader and organize in a way that works for me. I organize by category (Friends, Nonprofit Tech, Nonprofit Health, Nonprofit Social Media, Tech, Fundraising, and so on), within those folders I organize with my "favorites" or the ones that I feel have consistently relevant posts for me at the top and on down, and then I organize the folders themselves into the ones that are my favorites and so on down. That way if I only have ten minutes one day I can quickly go in and read a post or two that I know will be less likely to leave be feeling unsatisfied.

I also have some folders or blogs that I like to have just for information, such as TechCrunch or CNN Politics, but that can quickly get overwhelming. I try to glance at them when I have time but don't consider them "essential" so if the number of unread posts climbs too high I simply "mark all as read" and move on with my day. Takes the stress of those "unread posts" sitting in my reader. And let's face it there's just too much information on some blogs to ever tackle.

Anyone else organize their RSS reader in a different way? Always looking to try new tips!

[Maria]

Can't wait to meet you too!

[Lala]

If I take my iphone to the bathroom with me, do I score 2 points for that question?! Great post. Really useful. It's interesting how you include both practical and emotional elements of overload. "Can't get to it all" and "feel bad". I often don't read everything, or skips days on Twitter or my RSS reader, but I don't feel bad about it. I guess that really matters.

[Cynthia]

I scored a 12 - I need help, lol! Being older and knowing my technological limitations, the result wasn't surprising. What was suprising was that I didn't score higher!

Really like Ashley's tips re: Google Reader and will check on the possibilities.

Re: social media/2.0 - as a beginner I usually suffer from information overload and struggle with searching out info on the basics along with ways to implement the various tools. Another struggle comes into play simply because I work for a VERY small non-profit where I am the only one with even a clue about social media. How sad is that?? Lol!

Beth, I appreciate the quiz, the questions and the opportunity to reflect on my own situation. Even though some of your posts are beyond my current understanding, I find a lot of value in what you share and count them as part of a much needed education!

[Laura Whitehead]

Hi Beth!

Very timely as have recently had a big stock check on information overload vs. time management.

Have done a big confessional post to admit I'm an information addict, and the steps I've recently taken to manage myself vs. information overload all a little better!
http://laura.popokatea.co.uk/2008/10/08/information-overload-my-name-is-laura-and-i-confess-im-an-addict/

I look forward to hearing and reading the feedback from the BlogHer event, I'm sure we'll all learn so many new ways to keep on top of it all!

[Paul Webster]

UMMMM!
13 if i'm honest ... 15 if really honest - eek!

Where's the support therapy group ?

BTW - not a problem tweeting from the bathroom on the phone, its the one place I can get away from my laptop!

[Erin McMahon]

I'm a 10.5 (#16 is 'sometimes'). :) I am currently in the process of trying to filter out feeds in my reader and follows on twitter. Hard to do... so many worthwhile blogs and people tweeting out there...

One tip that has stuck with me that has worked (when I have implemented it, which is not frequently enough) is to set a frequency for email checking and set the time of day for each check-in. Stick to it; ignore email until those magic times. During those check-in times, I go through each message by either responding if I can quickly, filing if I need to save it for reference, adding it to my to-do list if it needs more action than what I can accomplish there and then, or deleting if it's an FYI. That covers most of what I get.

Now that I have written that down, I am re-motivated to keep at that!

@Maria - regarding my RSS reader, I also use G reader, and I am not necessarily recommending this (I am not sure whether it helps or hurts me) but I scan new items when I get too busy to really read and then tag everything I think I may ever want to come back to. So I end up with a lengthy list of tags, but my reader is like a tome of quality reference material. I should probably use folders more though, much as you do. That sounds helpful!

[Gavin]

Beth,
They're good questions.. And they certainly made me stop and think. (I actually start my day with the blackberry IN the bathroom -- deleting all the flotsam and jetsam before it creeps into the day -- cursing those that didn't write me back and cursing those that did).

But I think you've confused "information overload" (as in too much information) with being "busy" or even "too busy." They're not the same things. Not having enough time to do things is not necessarily because I have too much information. It might be because I have too much to do!

As well, some of your questions point to so-called "addictive behavior" -- others are a result of a demanding or busy life -- still others are, it seems to me, indicative of "too much uncategorized data" (not information).

Finally, there is a plethora of information... But that's not all bad. I actually think it's GOOD to have lots of stuff to throw into the brain-hopper, shake, and see what falls out.

Then again, I've never shied away from making decisions on just "some" information. Good decisions can be made when you know "enough." And in fact it's easier if you don't know "too much." That leads to analysis paralysis.

By the way, if you’re looking for stuff on visual processing of information, the military has done a lot of work on just how much is “too much,” how visual displays can help and what are the limits. Most of it was done in the use of HUD (heads up displays) in fighter jets. As I recall, they found a magic balance of the types of displays (analog vs binary) and the number of different things one person can effectively use and keep track of. Needless to say, it is also a learned behavior. Damn if I can remember (information overload or old age?)… but I think it was something like 3 or 4 primary information points and our minds can grok displays of binary information first (red light or green light), analog information next (clock face), and finally digital data (like a list of number or percentages). Finally, words on a page is last – richest but last.

[Botgirl Questi]

I suggest adding this as the first question:

1. Are you able to stay focused enough to answer every question in this quiz? (Don't answer until you're done or feel compelled to move on.)

[Rachel]

Hi Beth. I saw you speak at BlogHer Boston. I didn't think I had an overload problem until I took your quiz. I'm working on making some changes this week. Thanks!

[Christelle]

Half reading a blog post or a mail, and returning after some time to read it well is double-work ! Like taking the time to print it and, some time later reading this printed page during work hours : also double-work !

Read it right away, or not at all, and you will save time !

Christelle