How to handle information overload and managing your time at work (in technology)
We all have more work to do than there is time in the day, and we also have, perhaps, too much information to read.
The TL;DR for the former is to ruthlessly prioritize the work that you uniquely can do, and that is also the hardest work that you can do, and then to state clearly both your priorities and what you are working on. I will get into the how and the what shortly, below.
For the latter, there is a simple set of heuristics that I use to stay on top of my workload, and I will also spend time on that below.
Of course, what will work for you will vary based on your role, level and goals you’ve set with your manager. What I’ve included below works for me and are best practices I’ve developed throughout my career. But in addition to responding to requests from various folks on teams that I have managed about how I manage my time (which is what prompted this note), my goal in posting this is to provide some practical tips for managing information flow and hopefully inspire you to find a style and a set of tactics that work for you and with your goals and lifestyle.
And for full transparency, managing one’s time and flow of information is a continual work in progress. I regularly look for ways to optimize my time, how I manage information as well as how I and the teams I lead can support individuals and sub-groups in managing their time and streamlining information.
Typically, there are five types of information that we require people to stay abreast of, across companies.
- Workplace broadcast announcements
- Workplace chat or Slack
- Industry news (external)
- Pre-reads for meetings
The first three are the largest, and I have found it best to funnel workplace broadcast announcements into your email. This allows you to stay on top of two primary channels: email and Workplace chat or Slack. Different workplace broadcast systems have different ways to manage email notifications, which you can suss out on your own.
For email, I practice a modified version of inbox zero:
- Keep your inbox as close to zero as possible
- Emails that require a thoughtful, detailed response get marked as read and get flagged for follow up.
- Emails that require a short response get a, ah, short response when read.
- Don’t read emails in meetings. It is both disrespectful to whomever is speaking and also results in sloppy work.
- Create three new mail boxes:
- Flagged
- Unread
- To Do (this is the one I focus on. It is made up of Flagged and Unread.)
- Set aside time during your day to get through your flagged emails. I do so during my three hours of commuting to and from work. By “set aside time in your day” I mean block time on your calendar called “email catchup.”
- Pro-tip: unsubscribe, religiously, from marketing and other email lists.
For announcements broadcast by your company on Slack or Facebook Workplace, use the settings to get email summaries sent to your inbox, which will save you from having to browse the broad announcements and constrains your reading to the two primary channels.
For workplace chat or Slack, follow these rules:
- Keep it short
- Understand that some people hate Workplace chat, and thus use the right medium for the right people
- For leaders/managers, create Workplace chats for your directs, and
- Share immediate short updates in that space
- Use it for special occasions (e.g. birthdays, babies, milestones, etc.)
- Share links of interest that aren’t required reading
- Share photos of your team speaking on stage or addressing an audience. It shows care and recognition.
- Use it for work anniversaries.
For pre-reads, insist on getting the pre-read 48hrs before the meeting, and ask gently but insistently for this material in a timely fashion if you don’t receive it. Getting a pre-read the day of an event or over a weekend is essentially saying that the pre-read has no value and that your time isn’t valuable.
Let’s revisit the prioritization.
In addition, you will need to pick up fires as they arise. I allot 30% of time for management (1:1s; staff meetings; all hands; HR (employee reviews, employee sentiment plans); management fires), 30% for leadership (writing pieces like this, setting group culture, community impact, and setting priorities for the team), 30% for hands-on work (the areas that are hardest that I uniquely can solve), and 10% for fires. The fires, unsurprisingly, can accordion to 50% of my time. When that happens, I get (more) gray hair and make plans to prevent fires in the future.
I also communicate the things that I am not going to do, to be transparent and also to prevent burnout.
There is more work to do at the company than there are people to do it. Keep that in mind.
Prioritization is your friend. Ruthless prioritization is your best friend. I use this table to assess all of my work on a weekly basis. You can make yourself a copy.
Kind regards, Ty
