As a leader, if you can avoid information overload, then you’ll gain more time and decrease stress. Otherwise, if you’re not careful, you’ll know a lot but get nothing done.
We’re blessed to live in a time when information is plentiful. Want to find something out? Just look online.
The same goes for your team. You can easily email, text, or call people for updates or more information. It didn’t used to be like that and the world didn’t end.
Access to info is good but do you spend your day sitting in front of an open fire hydrant? And what is the opportunity cost of spending your time that way.
Let’s discuss some solutions, so you can avoid information overload:
Limit Your Focus
I live in Florida. Do I need to know the weather in Chicago? I like Chicago. It’s a nice place but unless something dramatic is happening there, I don’t need to know what the weather will be like in Chicago.
Just because you have easy access to information, doesn’t mean you have to pursue it. Think about those things you check that are nice to know but aren’t essential to know. Freeing yourself from them will give you more time.
Trust Your Team
While it’s good to monitor the progress of your employees, you shouldn’t be looking over their shoulders, doing their jobs. Set expectations, provide appropriate training, and review the outcomes.
You will exhaust yourself if you start to micromanage your employees. Instead put more of your focus on the results and not the recipe.
Think of it like a magic trick. You’re paying someone to perform the trick, not teach you how it’s done.
Evaluate Your Progress to Avoid Information Overload
It’s important to self-monitor to make sure you’re not falling back on old habits or developing some new ones.
There will be times when you’ll need to be more involved in certain projects. But when they end, you’ll want to return to your default level of information gathering.
If you can find the right balance, you’ll become a much more effective leader.
