Information Diet: How to be Productive
What is Information Diet
Information can be likened to food. As good as food is to the body, it has its disadvantage if not properly consumed.
Too much carbohydrate intake is dangerous to the body as well as too little carbohydrate intake. Same for almost all the other classes of food.
Not eating protein and other necessary vitamin leads to kwashiorkor. Too much carbs can lead to diabetes. But eating the right food in the right quantity leads to a very healthy life
Japan is said to be the healthiest country in the world and this is largely attributed to the fact that they are very conscious of what they eat or do not eat.
Knowing what to eat, when to eat, in what proportion, and what combination per time is very important for healthy living. This is what is called food diet.
In the same vein, we have the Information Diet. Knowing what to take in, in what proportion, what combination, etc.
In the internet age, there is just so much to consume and it is very easy to get caught in the loop of chasing after every information. The average American is said to consume about 34 gigabytes of information every day Yet, despite this, there is no significant improvement in the productivity level.
Wikipedia defines information overload as the difficulty in understanding an issue and effectively making decisions when one has too much information (TMI) about that issue, and is generally associated with the excessive quantity of daily information
Information overload is common among many of us. Sometimes, it is what we indulge in as an excuse to do important but risky work or as a coverup for our laziness or to hide our insecurities.
We get caught up in so many needless consumption that leads us to the justification that there is no time. Yet, what it does to us is that we are unable to make very good decisions, solve problem and cause a ruckus. In relation to food, this is similar to fatigue.
According to Clay Johnson, we spend about 11 hours every day consuming information and as tempting as it is to blame the internet, or information itself for this problem, the bitter truth is that we are to be blamed for the problem.
The same way we would not blame food for obesity or diabetes because whatever happened was as a result of a person’s choice, so it is with information. It all boils down to our choices.
Every notification sound gets your attention. Every instablog‘s gist, finds its way to your eyes. Every song release, is in your playlist.
Then you go ahead to attend every class. Buy every course. Participate in all the discount yet never putting anyone to work.
You are in a continuous loop of consumption with high risk of information diabetes which leads to confusion and stagnation.
You think you are growing but you are not.
You are stuck and clueless, dying slowly.
But here is the reminder and caution you need. Here is your medicine.
You do not need every information.
You do not need to read everybook or pay for all the courses or know all the gist.
You need just the right information and consistency at implementing it.
You need an information diet – to guide your consumption.
You also need information exercise – where you learn to put what you have consumed to use by producing something tangible.
Go and write about it. Go make a video or podcast about it. Build a solution about the problem.
But do not sit down there deceiving yourself that you are causing a ruckus.
Get your information diet and exercise and get to work.
This article is inspired by Nihinlolamiwa Adekanye’s blog post. Read here
Nicely implemented