Companies worldwide see the stress their employees are under when faced with a seemingly endless barrage of messages. Some have even complained of e-mail apnea—holding your breath while checking your inbox.

In 2008, IBM joined forces with Microsoft, Google, Intel and others to form the Information Overload Research Group (IORG), a nonprofit organization with a serious mission: reduce the volume of e-mail that is taking over inboxes to win back the productivity that is lost when workers compulsively check for new messages. The group recently held its first conference, identifying issues such as "mail jail," e-mail etiquette and when instant messaging is and is not appropriate

Other enterprises employ different techniques to help workers stay on task. Pilot programs such as company-wide "quiet time" or "no e-mail Fridays" allow employees to focus, free of interruption.

Listen to the podcast: Welcome to the age of information overload (MP3, 6:51 min, 4,71MB)

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