21 Feb 5 supportive tips for dealing with information overload
There’s so much information available all the time; it can be great, educational, and powerful, but it can also be overwhelming!
And overwhelming information overload can be stressful and anxiety provoking and in short … not good for health or happiness or wellbeing!
But as always there are solutions.
We can take back our power and deal with these things more effectively. If you’d like to know how then read on …
via Happiful by Amy Hunt
We’ve never been more connected, but the ever-present onslaught of information can be difficult to deal with – here’s how to cope
Sometimes, it can feel like our entire day is made up of social media notifications, breaking news alerts, and streams of work and personal messages. If it’s not updates on conflicts around the world, it’s news of political unrest or troubling social issues – and that’s before we even get to the hurried texts and emails from our jobs, family, and friends. Especially in the aftermath of the draining Covid-19 pandemic, such an onslaught of information can leave our brains feeling scattered, making it a struggle to know where to turn our attention.
If you often find yourself feeling this way, you’re not alone. A 2020 Pew Research Center survey found that 66% of adults felt worn out by the amount of news they were consuming. And it’s having a real impact on our mental wellbeing. Psychologist Ella McCrystal says: “This information is coming in faster than we can fully digest and understand it. This overload can make us vulnerable to lowered mood, information fatigue, and increasing symptoms of depression and anxiety.
“And the impact of attention fragmentation is that we become less productive, less creative, and less able to make good decisions.”
Disconnecting from technology entirely isn’t all that practical – so how do we combat the issue of information overload, while grappling with the need to stay up to date?
Turn off notifications and alerts
One easy change you can make to set boundaries with the outside world is to turn off all of your notifications, be it email, WhatsApp, or Instagram. “We need to give up the fictitious narrative that we need to be on top of everything,” Ella explains. The reality is that very few things need our attention so urgently – so denying these outside influences’ constant access to you is a helpful way to protect your wellbeing. If the thought of turning off all notifications makes you feel anxious though, schedule in five minutes every hour or two to check your necessary platforms…
… keep reading the full & original article HERE