Infobesity

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Once upon a time knowledge was transferred from person to person through conversations and printed medium often limited in terms of geography and availability. Newspapers, radio and television extended that reach but they still had their limitations:

• The news were ‘on’ only at set times.

• Newspapers were at themost, a daily opportunity to catch up on the ‘latest’. One had to wait for the next day to find out more.

• Television was not broadcasting anything after a certain time of the night and had a limited number of channels.

Now we can consume information from across the globe, at any time, in any language through a seemingly endless buffet of mediums that we click, tap, swipe. We can choose from multiple devices, many search engines, countless apps, and a myriad of social networks.

“There are more pieces of digital content (or online information) in the world today than there are grains of sand on every beach on Earth.“*

This abundance is simultaneously a blessing, offering amazing opportunities and a curse as we over-consume information leading to a risk of infobesity. Our brain is regularly receiving more input than it can process, too many choices to make and decisions to take which can lead to anxiety, lack of focus and a feeling of being overwhelmed.

The good news is: we can choose to Consume Information Consciously.

Here are some suggestions to keep your information and news intake in check.

Where is the information coming from? Choose sources you trust and be open to explore different points of view.

=> Try to limit your number of sources to 2-3.

Why now? If you have just looked at the news 10 min ago, do you really need to check it again now?

=> What else could you do instead?

When? Set some boundaries.

=> Check the news at specific times of the day.

What for? Are you looking for a specific piece of information or are youscrolling mindlessly until something catches your eye?

=> Ask yourself: what for?

How does it make you feel? Tune in with your body.

=> Is the information you are consuming nourishing, energising or draining and depleting?

Do you really want to share it? Pass the information through the 3 sieves of Socrates ...

=> Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?

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To learn more about how you can better control your “information consumption”, get in touch to arrange a free conversation and explore possibilities, I guarantee it will be 15min of your time invested mindfully.

Find out more (link from this article)

* Gantz, J. and Reinsel, D. (no date) ‘THE DIGITAL UNIVERSE IN 2020: Big Data, Bigger Digital Shadows, and Biggest Growth in the Far East’, p. 16.

Image credit: Photo by Uday Mittal on Unsplash

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