Between reading hundreds of e-mails, scrolling through your social network feeds, and getting bombarded with product placement, the Internet can sometimes feel like a never-ending stream of information overload. This can be problematic. Research has shown that continuously being exposed to too much information can make us irritable and frustrated, hindering our ability to make sound and reasonable decisions.
There is no need to despair just yet. There are some practical and effective strategies to minimize the impact of information overload, reduce your online-related frustrations, and improve your ability to navigate the Internet environment with less stress.
Don’t go down the rabbit hole
The following is a hypothetical scenario, but it might sound very familiar to you. Anna must write a school essay on the Civil War, and she decides to look up relevant information on the Internet. Two hours later, she realizes she has learned absolutely nothing about the Civil War but can now confidently recite all the new and improved theories about who killed John F Kennedy. This is the concept of the online rabbit hole in practice. You may start watching one video about a specific topic, and a few moments later you wake up from a transient-like state, only to discover that you have been binge-watching non-related videos for hours.
It's easy to get off track or lose focus in today’s online landscape. Distractions are built into the online infrastructure, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish relevant from non-relevant information. Being able to recognize patterns of “rabbit-holing” and identify online information that is non-pertinent to your initial search query can help you fight off the dangers of the online rabbit hole. Practically, this can be achieved by asking yourself some straightforward questions: “Is this video still relevant to what I initially sought to discover?” or “Does this information help me accomplish my initial goals?” Ask yourself these pointed questions to see if you are still on track or have lost your way somewhere on your online information journey.
Prioritize information in your newsfeed
In the offline world, we don’t just interact with every person we encounter; instead, we choose who we interact with and how we communicate our thoughts and intentions. Sometimes, we might decide not to talk with someone that we perceive as irritating, annoying, or counterproductive. Why shouldn’t this apply to the online realm as well? Do we have to be exposed to every bit of information from every person or organization in our network?
A simple trick to limit the amount of information we encounter online is to control the settings in our newsfeeds. Most online and social media platforms offer the option to regulate, mute, or block online content. These settings and regulations don’t apply to offensive content only but extend to situations where the information is unnecessary, off-topic, or redundant. Regulating your exposure to online information can limit the influence of distractions and increase your overall productivity levels. Try to incorporate this strategy into your online regimen. Next time you browse through your online and social media networks, identify posts, comments, videos, or articles that you might perceive as unnecessary and unproductive. In your next step, remove said online content and observe how this changes your online browsing experience.
Set a limit
The most straightforward (and probably hardest) option is to set a time limit on your daily Internet exposure. This requires both patience and discipline. Most of our online habits have been formed through years of habitual and repetitive processes. Opening emails, checking social media feeds, watching YouTube videos, etc. Strategically cutting down or reforming some of these habits will not happen overnight but require continuous and conscious effort. Identify your time leaks, gradually improve towards phasing out those leaks, and re-structure online information based on priority and level of importance. Adapting this strategy will improve your ability to deal with today’s endless stream of online information and ultimately reduce the negative and distracting impact it can have on your life.
Note: This article was originally published on LinkedIn
