The Information Diet

What information do you get everyday?

Turn on news morning, noon or night and you can hear all the latest bad news, locally, in the state, in the country and in the world. When you get online you are bombarded with a myriad of informational choices. Your browser homepage lists the latest news, near, far, good, bad and totally irrelevant. You have work emails, emails from websites, twitter messages, Facebook messages.

During your TV shows the screen shows a ticker tape of information, commercials come on talking about the latest must have. The car radio tells you things going on, traffic updates and more. Your boss, your co-workers share the latest news. News about what is happening in the world and what is happening on their favorite shows.

Is it information overload?

Is this information that is going to change your life today, tomorrow, next week? Do you have any control over what happens? “Information can tell us everything. It has all the answers. But they are answers to questions we have not asked, and which doubtless don’t even arise.” Jean Baudrillard

The Information diet

Imagine not opening the newspaper for a week. Change the channel away from the news for just seven days, or even better turn off the TV. Learn to check your email just once a day. If your work depends on it, learn to check just three times. Stop checking your friends’ status updates multiple times a day.  You would not have all the time wasted checking on things that do not require your immediate attention.

What about important information?

You will hear major news from co-workers, see it online and on your social media streams. Yet during your week away from information overload maybe you will find that so much of the news you thought you had to know does not change your life. Any news that is really important will make it is way to you without you having to hunt for it.

Without the negative information, you can focus on the positive. Without constant news updates, you will have time to enjoy things that make you happy. You will have time spend with your family, friends or people who bring you joy. Trading negative for positive is always a good thing.