Information Overload Affliction

Re: Information Overload Affliction

Laurence Webb — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:37:24 GMT

Old Vet Records are great for putting under wobbly table legs

Re: Information Overload Affliction

David Hopper — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:19:54 GMT

Thanks for the constructive ideas Mike. A colleague once told me he was sorting his in-tray out and most of it was going in the 'Gravity Filing System' aka litter bin. It's good to feel I am not alone, I can feel the karma

Re: Information Overload Affliction

Ian Mostyn — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:55:20 GMT

Just had to take on someone to do the practice admin to give me a chance to do some reading, except the mountain of journals is on the list of things for her to sort out!!

Ian

Re: Information Overload Affliction

scarlet — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:15:44 GMT

same here. you have to be selective otherwise you'd never get any work done!!!!! i flick thru everything and then read abstract/summary and if important will then read whole thing. it may amount to 1 or 2 articles per mag . rare is the one i read cover to cover. and ruthlessly bin(recycle ) everything once done otherwise you will have mountains of stuff(on the off chance you need to refer to the article on reindeer footrot in 5yrs time) things change so quickly that what is valid now may be superceded in 6months!!!!

also have you thought of the danger to staff from a collapsing mountain of journals? you could be done under the health and safety police!!!!!!

Re: Information Overload Affliction

Holly Lee — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:06:32 GMT

You just described exactly what I do!! Don't have any helpful advice but I feel better now!

Re: Information Overload Affliction

Mike Martin — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:26:38 GMT

Yes David, its a real problem. I've had to read a lot of cardiology stuff to keep abreast too. So my only tip would be, clear the pile every week! Don't be afraid to bin it, there's more on the way and alot gets repeated. I'm now ruthlessly selective and prioritise what appears to be most important and get to know the limit of what one can truely read.

Work it like a triage system, prioritise what you must read and have time to (ie. most of the article, and preferably peer reviewed papers). Bin the stuff that's not important (which is most). Skip read the the slightly important ones, maybe the abstracts and conclusions (that you'll read if someone fails to show for an appt). Don't let it pile up, because that becomes depressing and even more frustrating.

Not sure this helps though....?

Re: Information Overload Affliction

Gillian Mostyn — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:55:02 GMT

You're not alone. Except that I don't get around to tearing out the useful ones - so the pile is even bigger!!