I’ve talked about the effects of overload on the quality of work, and here are some great quotes that seem to agree:
Idiotic Workload
“You can turn a smart person into an idiot just by overworking him”
Prof. Peter Capelli, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania [via Fortune]
Overload precludes ability to plan strategically
In many companies, the work environment conjures up images of headless chickens running around aimlessly until they drop.
“… everyone is so focused on running flat-out to meet current goals that the whole company is unable to step back and think.”
Prof. Peter Capelli, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania [via Fortune]
Mutitasking reduces efficiency by 20% to 40%
“[multitasking is] costing a company as much as 20 to 40 percent in terms of potential efficiency lost”
David Meyer, Ph.D., Dept. of Psychology, University of Michigan [via CNN]
“To do two things at once, is to do neither.”
Publilius Syrus, Roman sage [via NPR]
The importance of being conscious?
And lastly, in support of my recent post on how to solve complex problems by harnessing the power of your subconscious:
“… although I do sometimes investigate conscious processes, I’m more and more inclined to draw the conclusion that consciousness is a pretty unimportant thing.”
Prof. Ap Dijksterhuis, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam
Related articles:
Is email useful for people at the top?
Company collapses: CEO forgot to check email last night!
Email programs have not changed much in the past decade, but the amount of email we get has grown by a tremendous amount, significantly impacting our email productivity. The average information worker gets far more mail than s/he can cope with, and an increasing number of people suffer from "email overload". In this blog, Itzy Sabo analyzes the causes of email overload, discusses strategies to cope with the constant bombardment, and provides practical tips for getting the most out of our email programs. 
2 responses so far ↓
JC Payne // May 21, 2006 at 10:09 pm |
These quotes can’t make it any more simple. The problem is, even once you understand just how much productivity you are losing by trying to do too much work, its still a hard practice to get out of.
fofa // January 11, 2009 at 2:29 pm |
my consious is tired from thinking much about any problem and at the end i am always not able to solve it or take any decision