Information Overload: Is There a Cure? - Page 2

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Despite the fact that most of RescueTime's users are "people who care about their productivity," he said, the typical user "Alt-Tabbed" (i.e. switches among applications) 70 times per day. About 17 percent of those switches were to an e-mail program, while six percent were to an instant message chat window.

Just how much all that task-switching makes for a drain on productivity isn't clear. But if Spira is anywhere near correct about the significant time needed by interrupted workers to return to their original tasks, it's sure to be a daunting amount.

Panelists also discussed the kind of information addiction that seems to drive people to always be checking their BlackBerries and e-mail for the latest new bit of info.

Moderator Matt Richtel, a reporter for the New York Times, said he's seen reports of some psychologists using the phrase "acquired ADD" to describe people who seemed to have developed Attention Deficit Disorder as a result of their interaction with online media and mobile devices.

"We seem to be able to retain boredom for less time," Richtel said.

Another panelist attributed the activity to a lottery mentality of self-reinforcing behavior: All it takes is one e-mail out of many to be useful for users to feel motivated enough to keep spinning the wheel -- or hitting Send/Receive.

Silicon Valley goes 'topless

Ellen Siminoff, chairman of search engine marketing firm Efficient Frontier, said she's seeing more examples of information addiction in the workplace.

"It seems like a meeting can't go five minutes without someone checking their BlackBerry," she said.

But that may be changing. Some Silicon Valley firms are going "'topless" by banning the use of laptops and other personal electronic devices in meetings -- a trend Siminoff heartily endorses.

"People have lost the ability to make logical decisions," she said. "I'm shocked that some feel it's okay to do e-mail in a meeting or multitask. I think it's the epitome of rudeness."

Not surprisingly, it would be a grave mistake to start texting during a meeting at Efficient Frontier. "If you can't pay attention, leave the meeting," Siminoff said.

Likewise, Spira said he thinks e-mail is a fantastic tool, it's just not always used properly.

For instance, he had one piece of advice for everyone that uses e-mail:

"If you get a group message, do not hit Reply All to say 'Great' or 'Thanks'. If we could just eliminate that, it would be a great start."