Practical Ways to Deal with Information Overload

Today's world is full of information that we seem to be continually juggling, leading to the feeling of being overwhelmed. When the Internet was invented, we thought that our lives would become easier by reducing our paper clutter, and freeing up more of our time. However, this hasn't been the case. Over the last several decades, we have accumulated massive amounts of paper clutter, succumb to inboxes bursting with unanswered emails, and been exposed to more information than we can handle. We only have so much space in our minds for all this clutter, leading to a system shutdown when it becomes overloaded. Here are several steps you can take to deal with information overload.

Manage Email

To start dealing with all of the information that we've amassed over the years, we need to deal with our email inboxes. We need to ruthlessly begin to eliminate all the unnecessary messages that sit in our inboxes. Start by getting rid of any messages that are not important and commit to spending only one hour a day dealing with new messages that come in during the day.

Turn off Your Phone

Our smartphones have allowed us to do more throughout the day and access information from anywhere. This can quickly lead to becoming overburdened with information. One solution is to turn off your phone at night, so you're not disturbed by the constant notifications and to ensure you're not tempted to check it when you're supposed to be sleeping. Also turn it off during the day when you have to focus on completing important tasks.

Eliminate RSS Feeds

It's become too easy to be overwhelmed with the amount of news feeds that we have subscribed to. RSS feeds were designed to help us save time, but have quickly overtaken our lives. At least once a month, consider going through your RSS feeds and unsubscribe to those feeds that are no longer relevant and those that you don't read through anymore.

Meditate

Meditating for several minutes a day can drastically reduce the overwhelm that you experience from information overload. It helps us to stop the constant noise in our heads and clear our mind of the clutter that has accumulated throughout the day. Spending just five minutes meditating before bed will help you clear your mind and get a more restful night’s sleep.

Dealing with the constant barrage of information starts to take its toll on our mental well-being and physical health. Finding easy ways to manage all the information in our lives will help us to avoid overwhelm and find a more peaceful and clearer mind.