More information doesn’t mean more growth
You should say your opinion, but not too forcefully.
You should wake up earlier to work on your side hustle.
You should stop eating sugar; it’s unhealthy.
You should take care of yourself and your health, body, and skin.
You should go out and meet people instead of reading a book.
You should, you should, you should…
The internet is full of tips, hacks, systems, how-tos, and what you should and shouldn’t do. I know my newsletter and products are adding to that, too.
I’m grateful for all the information on the internet. Learning something new, changing professions, or starting a new hobby has never been easier.
I love the internet and the opportunities.
But I’m also overwhelmed by all the:
- newsletters
- social media posts
- tv series
- movies
- gossip
- courses and guides
- …
Everything I should and shouldn’t know.
Today, I’m sharing my ways to stop being overwhelmed by all the information.
It’s a daily balancing act of input and output.
- how to find what’s important for you
- how to find the balance
- how to stop the information input and still grow
How to find what’s important for you
You don’t have enough hours in the day to do and think of all the things you should do.
That’s why we have summaries and experts helping you.
You can’t do all the shoulds:
- About a healthy lifestyle
- About the right exercises
- About the right and wrong food
- About the right way to raise your kids
- About the best way to study
- About the rules of society
- About what to read and watch next
- About what the best relationships are
- …
The first chapter of my Unlocking Productivity course is about finding your why. You’re lost in all the possibilities without knowing where you want to go or what’s important to you.
If a student doesn’t know what exam to take or didn’t listen to what’s important for the professor, they procrastinate and don’t know where to start.
The internet and social media can be overwhelming. There is so much great content out there. At some point, I subscribed to 50+ newsletters, because all of them had information about what I’m interested in (and cool freebies)
But every week I was overwhelmed with all the emails I got and it took me more than an hour to read through them.
At some point the information overload was overwhelming and a waste of time, and I didn’t have any capacity left to actually think and create my own content.
How did I increase the amount of information?
I prioritized the ones I liked reading the most and which gave me the most value (what I needed at the moment) and unsubscribed from the rest.
2 years ago, I was totally into finances, and I listened and read everything about it. But now that I have a plan for investing I don’t need those newsletters, social media accounts, and podcasts anymore.
I know we’re not fans of letting go and decreasing what could be valuable. But every information comes and goes at the right time in your life.
Figure out what you’re focusing on today and the next months, and then let go of the rest.
Without focus and prioritization, you will have information overload, and you don’t get anything done. Trust me!
Ask yourself these questions:
- What topics can I check off and get over with?
- What do I struggle the most with, and who/what helps me to overcome it?
- What do I enjoy reading/listening/watching the most?
- What topic can I push into the future without harming myself or others?
For example, I checked off my interest in finding the best self-care last week because I got a skin analysis and now I know what my skin needs. Done!
How to find the balance
What I was already hinting at with the question “What topic can you push into the future?” is that you shouldn’t do everything at once.
I’m guilty of wanting everything at once!
For years, I had a few New Year’s resolutions, and after a week or two, I was so overwhelmed by the to-dos that I failed. I started too much at the same time.
Now I know to start with one small thing at a time.
At some point, a new habit will become a routine, and you’ll have the capacity again to start a new thing.
Now, after the first step, you have already gotten rid of some newsletters and social media followings, right?
You can start by balancing the output with the input.
Our world is made to be overwhelming. Everyone wants you to see their ad and their awesome offer. You don’t have any energy or time left for creative output and rest.
Introverts especially feel the energy draining fast when their days are full of socializing, watching videos, communicating, and taking care of their needs.
We need time to recharge and rest as well.
We can’t be on the 100% energy level all the time.
I wish we could, and I tried hard for years to be productive 24/7.
Don’t underestimate rest.
We are humans. We need rest to give.
When I realized that good sleep and taking breaks improve my productivity, my mind was blown.
Life is about balance.
The balance of being productive, socializing, and getting input to being quiet, relaxing, and creating output.
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you the exact hours of working and relaxing because everyone is different. It depends on your goals, environment, and responsibilities.
You need to test it yourself and find your unique balance.
My balance is about sleeping 8 hours, meditating, and visualizing in the morning. It’s important for me to have my phone turned off and not in my bedroom. After a long day at work with a lot of input, I usually relax with my boyfriend while watching some Netflix. The weekends are for relaxing, writing, and working on my business (output).
How to stop the information input and still grow
Now you might think: but what if I miss something really good?
I know that FOMO (fear of missing out) too well.
What if I miss a Black Friday sale of that one newsletter because I unsubscribed? And it could help me solve….?
What I realized is that the information I need will come my way exactly when I need it. I trust the universe to give me the input at the right time.
I have tried out a lot of skin care products and researched for 2 years now, and a week ago, I realized that there are skin analyses I can do to end this trial and error game.
I freed up some capacity in my brain to focus on something else.
There’s so much going on and so many topics you “should” think about.
We want to grow. That’s why we buy the online courses and read the social media posts and books.
But we need time to process it, too.
The best resource for a healthy lifestyle is useless if you don’t use it. And for that you need time too.
- Write down the best lessons and insights from a book to remember it longer
- Highlight or bookmark the paragraphs you want to go back to
- Try out the lessons, recipes, or systems
- Fail at putting the systems into practice and learn from it
- Do your own research in topics you want to have deeper knowledge of
To balance the input with the output, it’s about learning slower. Instead of reading 50 books a year, you read 20, but you put those lessons into practice.
This will help you grow more than just reading and forgetting immediately.
I’m guilty of doing that in the past. I learned my lesson because I couldn’t remember what I read a few hours later. And that’s such a shame because I read really good books.
Conclusion
It’s impossible to know all the information in the world. And the internet and social media, full of how-tos and should-dos can be overwhelming.
Instead of falling for FOMO, try to prioritize what topics are important for you at this moment, and then let go of the rest.
You can always come back to a topic and prioritize it next year or in a month.
Focus and prioritization are what will make you grow by applying the lessons and processing the information.
Introverts especially need to take care of the limited inputs they can handle. We process everything intensely, and it takes a lot of energy.
Less Stress. More Time. Less Overwhelmed!
Get your free copy of my 3 steps!
Get daily insights, motivation, and inspiration:
If you are as addicted as I am to reading books, check out my favorite books!
