The Goldilocks Principle  was alive and well at Overloaded 2013, the February conference produced by the Information Overload Research Group.

The irony was that I didn’t recognize the principle until well after the conference, thanks to the way we work today.

First, the flood of information coming at me from all the speakers and our conference breakout groups made it hard for me to absorb what I was hearing in the moment.

Second, immediately after the conference, I chose to check email and social media feeds on the trip home, rather than using the time to pause and reflect on the day.

The fast pace of work encourages constant connectivity. If you don’t respond quickly, you fear others will view you as a sloth. And then there’s the worry that if you wait, you’ll overlook it for several weeks if not forever.

(Now that cell phone service is available even when traveling through the BART trans-bay tunnel under the San Francisco Bay, I find that my fingers are often glued to my smartphone. My book stays in my bag. And stop to use my brain to ponder or day dream? Forget about it! I need to “do something.”)

When I did think about the conference content—on a hike with the dog—I was struck by how well the Goldilocks Principle applies to information overload. (Generally the principle is associated with developmental psychology, biology, economics and engineering.)

When you get the “just right” amount of information to satisfy not only your curiosity but also your need to act and make decisions, you’re probably at your most productive. You avoid the extremes of feeling overloaded or shortchanged, which helps you focus and perform better. You’re like Goldilocks who found her “just right” food, chair and bed on her third tries.

The challenge for you and others you work with is this “just right” amount is very personal. One person’s overload is another person’s shortage.

We all need to take time to learn what’s best for each of us and our brain. First being self-aware and then practicing good habits that are “just right” for us is the key to being more productive with less stress and greater well-being.

Becoming aware about your own state also extends to others you work with. If you don’t know their capacity for dealing with information, you at least need to be sensitive.

For example, if you’re not careful, you can tax people with your requests to take action. As one of the conference speakers Stephen Whittaker, Professor of Psychology, UC Santa Cruz explained, being asked to act on information is one of our struggles.

Also the act of deciding can cause stress. (By the way, hoarding and finding things, which are popular problems addressed in blogs and media, aren’t as troubling for people as acting, the professor told us.)

For those of us who regularly influence others and ask for their help in implementing strategic initiatives, this is especially useful information. We need to be considerate in our calls to action, making them clear, compelling and easy to do. Otherwise, people will shut down or revolt.

(By the way, if you want to learn How to create calls to action that help you shorten the distance between your ask and others’ act, join me for this free webinar on Monday, March 4 at 10 am PT [1 pm ET].)

As for determining what’s best for you and your brain, you can get overloaded just thinking about the issue as well as exploring options. For example, taking time to experiment with the various methods, including all the technology-based tools now available, could be another day job.

Yet, finding and using the “just right” tools used to be pure art, but now it can be science—if you embrace the “quantified self” movement. It’s about self-knowledge through self-tracking.

Those in the movement record their work practices and routines, exercise, other habits such as relaxation and meditation, diet, mood and anything else they want to track. Technology has made measurement easier and analysis easier, although you can still manage with a paper and pen.

The goal is to move from the “quantified self to the clarified self” as succinctly and powerfully stated by Jared Goralnick, Founder & Productivity Evangelist of AwayFind & SET Consulting. Jared is also a Director and Executive VP, Info Overload Research Group and served as the conference host.

You just can’t collect data, which will be another form of overload. You need to manage what you measure. That way, you can use your newly-gained knowledge to improve the quality of your life, including your work productivity.

Still, so many options, so much to do and so little time….

How are you defining your “just right” amount of information to avoid overload and be more productive?