Information Overload

I feel I have been suffering from information overload this week. This may be rather common now in the time of COVID, as we have emails, Zoom meetings, websites, resources, images, infographics, podcasts, all of this information competing for attention. Oh and my cat. My cat is competing for attention too. When I suffer from information overload everything becomes fast and slow at the same time. I am trying to check things off my list but I am also trying to curate and organize all the information that is coming at me so I can process and prioritize.

 

When you suffer from information overload you have little time to reflect sadly. And the reflection part is the important part. You don’t have time to take stock of where you are at or what needs to be put forward first. So when I feel this deep feeling of information overload I often deal with it in a way that has worked for me in the past.

1. Overload yourself more (if only temporarily): The one way to get out of information overload is actually to overload yourself a bit more as you try to curate that information and sort it into what needs to be read and processed immediately and what can wait for reflection time.
2. Go through your lists and resources methodologically: Sort through the lists of things and read through each by theme. Usually I read and sort work things first. Then I read and sort research things second. Then I read and sort other things third. These other things are usually social media information and posts."Hey have you seen this?" "Read this article it's good!" type requests are in pile three at the moment and I am sorry if I have not gotten back to you.
3. Take a break: For real. Take a break from all of it. I am at the point now that I can log off for the (long) weekend knowing that all I have in my information trough is one library book (not 4 like at the beginning of the week), and a few podcasts. Oh and also a documentary on Netflix. But most of these, like the podcasts and Netflix, will be consumed tonight leaving me with one library book, that I can read, or not, slowly over the next few days. This gives time for point 4.
4. Reflect: A lot. For real. I usually take some time with my research list and reflect on priorities once I have given myself a day away from the fire hose of information. That way I know what to do next, where to focus my energies when my batteries are recharged, and what gaps I am missing in information to continue on.

I know that part of this information overload is about the weather, this rain has given me a bad headache and it is hard to concentrate when you have a headache. Everything becomes bigger and faster and slower when you have a headache. So I am looking forward to some nice non-headache time over the next few days, maybe even some time on the deck with some sun if we are lucky. 

It’s okay to unplug, it’s actually necessary. And with that I will see you on the other side of this weekend. Insert video of old school analog TV shutting off here.