Leading From The Front‪!‬

From the author: “They come via e-mail...voice mail...fax...instant messages...pager...Blackberry...cell phone...Skype. You receive even more during meetings, be they teleconference, video conference, Web conference, or the good old fashioned face to face kind. Even before we get to the office in the morning and, for many of us, well into the evening, we are inundated with incoming communications from these sources and more. It seems as though during every moment someone is trying to inform, teach, solicit to, solicit from, question, update, delegate to, warn, disagree with and sometimes even entertain us.

This tidal wave of incoming communication can be overwhelming, leaving us feeling fatigued, irritable and/or distracted. It can negatively impact everything from our work performance to how we interact with our families and friends. It can result in something as minor as forgetting to buy milk on the way home to as major as being involved in an automobile accident. In other words, communication overload can be harmful to our health. While for the most part we are unable to control or lessen the amount of incoming messages we receive each day, we can develop strategies for dealing with them more effectively rather than letting them engulf us. Incorporating the following tips can enable you to nip communications overload in the bud:”