NY Times - "Lost In E-Mail, Tech Firms Face Self-Made Beast"

Wow, have I (we?) been here before (and continue to be). Like some of us, maybe a tech version of a 12-step program is the solution for us. I will be following this story for more ideas how we can all get a breather from information overload (that's why I'm doing this post near midnight!).

"It is a song that has been sung before. People are drowning in information overload. The very technology tools that were touted as an aid to productivity improvement are now being seen as counterproductive when overused. Several large-tech firms, including Intel, IBM, Microsoft, and Google are banding together to fight information overload. They realize some of the problem is of their making and they should make a stab at solving it. They plan to study the problem, publicize it, and come up with ways to help people cope with the digital deluge. Some of the companies are already experimenting with solutions. Intel encourages workers to check e-mail less frequently, to send group messages judiciously, and to avoid having e-mail messages constantly reorder to-do lists. Google has introduced E-Mail Addict. It allows employees to cut themselves off from e-mail for 15 minutes at a time. Zero e-mail Fridays is another idea to cut down on the flow of e-mails." (The New York Times, 14-Jun-2008, National ed., p. A1). (Courtesy, Hewitt Associates daily E-MAIL news feed).