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In 1970, Alvin Toffler, in his book Future Shock, predicted that there would be an avalanche of information that would overwhelm us, causing all sorts of problems. He was right.
As Auckland's Dr Stress John McEwan says, information overload is the disease of the 21st century.
"Five hundred years ago, if you got a doctorate of Philosophy, it would mean you had read everything written in the Western world. A hundred years ago you could realistically be a master of your field.
"Now total knowledge in any field doubles over 24 months, and people can't keep up. It is impossible to know everything there is to know, even in your own field," says McEwan. "Nobody can keep up."
He says his best advice is to accept that, rather than feeling overwhelmed. "Nobody these days can achieve mastery of everything - there's just too much to know. Select the area in which you want mastery, focus on that. Choose what information will help you recharge your batteries, or position you professionally. Otherwise, just let it go."
McEwan says there are people who find this very difficult. "They have obsessive traits and have a great need to know everything. For some, moving on is just too difficult to contemplate."
He says the trait of humility is key to dealing with information overload. "Many of us were trained to be arrogant. However, we now have to accept that as we go into each situation, we can be told something we've missed. Humility is the ability to learn from others. It's a key to success."
Also, know where to find reliable information. "There's a lot of junk information out there that's masquerading as fact. We have an enormous amount of access to information, but often it's skewed, not properly controlled, not reliable. We need to know what can be trusted. This is particularly true of the internet."
Richard Saul Wurman, a pioneer in the practice of making information understandable, is quoted as saying: "In today's society, the success and survival of many companies and individuals hinges upon their ability to locate, analyse and use information skilfully and appropriately."
According to Wurman, information overload occurs when we not only have difficulty understanding available information, but feel overwhelmed by the amount of information to be understood. So it's about accessing worthwhile information and being able to deal with it quickly and efficiently.
Glenis Wong-Toi, senior tutor at the Student Learning Centre (Centre for Academic Development), The University of Auckland, is running a full-day course on September 4 on information overload for the Centre for Continuing Education, Auckland University.
She says information overload is a "sense of being overwhelmed by the amount of information we have to deal with. This can be from various sources. We need to know what we need to take notice of, how to make sense of it and where to get appropriate information.
"Anxiety is caused by a mismatch of what you want and what you're getting," she says.
"In the old days if you needed to research something, you'd go to the library and find a few books. Nowadays the access is enormous, and that causes problems."
She says it can be difficult to judge what you need to look at. "There is a different level of analysis; people need to be more critical about what they spend their time on. You need to identify if someone is trying to sell something or to inform."
She says you need to know the scenarios, the objectives, know what information you are dealing with. "It's important also for you to be aware of how you deal with information. What are your learning preferences? How do you best remember things?"
The course introduces topics such as the efficient management of information and the use of mind maps and other note-taking skills. It also presents topics that help improve information-handling skills such as matching learning skill with learning style, fast reading, effective reading skills, and improving memory.
Wong-Toi says: "The course is interactive, it's about people finding out what works for them."
"It's about engaging with text, and knowing that you don't have to read everything. It's about knowing how to find what you need. This also applies to the internet - it's about being able to decide quickly what's useful and knowing how to revise searches to extract what's useful.
Be clear about what you want and do preparation before you even start searching. Refine what you're looking for as you go on."
"The course is about creating a toolbox."
Wong-Toi says the best way not to be overwhelmed is to know that you don't have to read everything.
"There so much information out there, even when you're just finding out about a product for your house - there are so many products. You really need to know how to access information, to assess what's important to make good decisions."
