One time our HR/Training dept solicited requests for types of training they could offer that would be helpful. I told them we need training on how to deal with information overload.

The last time management training I got was back in the 90's, which basically boiled down to categorizing everything as do now / do later / delegate. But that was when I got about 15 emails a day, so I could read and act on every one.

Now, between emails, reports, IM's, texts, etc. I have WAY more information thrown at me in a given day than any human being can realistically process...much less act upon. Do now / do later / delegate just doesn't cover all the options anymore. At this point, the single biggest category for information that comes to me is "ignore / do nothing."

I've yet to see a time management strategy that takes into account information overload. Or one that recognizes sharing information is so easy now, it gets overshared with those who don't really need it (while critical information gets undershared, but that is another topic).

To have any hope of being effective at work, I HAVE to ignore large amounts of information that comes to me. My real challenge is figuring out a fast, easy, and effective way to correctly identify what to ignore without missing something important.