Elimination Part 2/3: The Low Information Diet
"What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention, and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it." - Herbert Simon
Just as modern man consumes both too many calories and calories of no nutritional value, information workers eat data both in excess and from the wrong sources. If we want to increase our output, we need to decrease our input. In addition, most information is time-consuming, negative, irrelevant to your goals and outside of your influence.
Cultivating Selective Ignorance
"There are many things of which a wise man might wish to be ignorant." - Ralph W. Emerson
It can be difficult to stop consuming negative and irrelevant information. To get rid of this bad habit, try asking yourself, “Will I definitely use this information for something immediate and important?” If “no” on either count, then most likely it is not worth consuming at all.
It can also be difficult to stop consuming information after we have started consuming it. We persist reading or watching something even after we have realized it would be better to just put the book down and pick up another one, or walk out of the theater even if we paid 6$ for it.
Cold Turkey Challenge
“Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace” - Robert J. Sawyer
Go on an immediate one-week media fast with,
- No newspapers, magazines, audiobooks, or nonmusic radio.
- No news websites whatsoever
- No television at all, except for one hour of pleasure viewing each evening.
- No reading books, except one hour of relaxing reading before bed.
- No web surfing at the desk unless it is necessary to complete a work task for that day.
Topic: Motivation Monday #18 (Read 2346 times)
