This article is written by Vernon Erasmus, Facilities Manager: Buildings, City of Capetown.

Since Covid-19 was classified as a pandemic, public servants — like everyone else — have been flooded with information.

Where I work in Facilities Management, in the City of Cape Town, this information comes not just from the City’s official communication channels but also from different social media platforms, newspapers, television news channels etc.

Directives, guidelines and advisories received from City staff increase and changes as the pandemic evolves and National Regulations are adjusted.

The problem is that too much information can lead to information overload. As Professor David Bawden and Dr Lyn Robinson from UCL London explain, “Overload occurs when too much relevant information is arriving, particularly when it comes through the 'homogenizing' lens of the web browser, which makes it difficult to distinguish which information is reliable and helpful.”

A lack of time to understand and manage the information causes individuals to experience anxiety and to feel overwhelmed

This leads to people feeling overwhelmed, powerless, anxious and fatigued. Furthermore, it causes individuals to choose ineffective ways of managing information, disinformation, and experiencing difficulty in deciding which information is relevant and useful. This overload causes a mental blockage which prevents important sources of information being accessed. This, in turn, can result in non-compliance due to important and vital information being missed.

Information overload can also lead to individuals seeking quick fixes by relying on guidance from unreliable sources.

Covid-19 is new to the world and poses a challenge to all. For this reason, dealing with the pandemic requires us to adjust and change national regulations constantly, which also means that there are constantly changing directives and guidelines at the local level. A lack of time to understand and manage the information causes individuals to experience anxiety and to feel overwhelmed.

How to prevent for information overload

  • Value the City’s directives and guidelines. It is relevant to keeping the workplace safe and compliant. When people do not see value in information received there is a tendency to ignore it.
  • Don’t delay reading the Cities directives and guidelines. It will soon pile up and you will be unaware of any new information and changes to existing guidelines.
  • Arrange your directives and guidelines in such a way that it can be used as a reference tool which will allow you to locate and retrieve information easily. — Vernon Erasmus

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