Low Information Diet

I am on a low-information diet these days. That means no newspapers, no TV news, no news magazines, no blogs or websites. Ok, maybe just a little bit every now and then. For the most part though, I stay away from taking in information.

Some of you may laugh because in my younger days (actually up until recently) I was an information sponge. I would be up on current events like nobody's business and know what was going on. But lately, I have re-evaluated this habit along with many others to see if it is worth my time and energy.

As David Allen would say "What is the next action?"

The answer usually is "nothing" because in most cases there is nothing you can do to affect the outcome. People (including myself) get wrapped-up in news, things going on in the office, chat, email, phone calls, tasks, to make ourselves feel important. The hard fact is most of this is noise that does not matter and can be turned-off with no harmful consequences. So a few months back I started to do so...

This is liberating once you think about it and accept it. Turning things off and getting rid of noise frees you to actually be productive! What's more, there are fewer distractions vying for your attention and you can become effective! Wow, that is some one-two punch. Most folks don't get it and never will but I see the truth in this approach.

Less is more in so many ways, you become free and more alive as a result of giving things up. This is deep stuff that is really sinking in with me and is altering how I live my life. I still have some habits to correct (like checking email more than three times a day) but am making progress.

It starts with a low information diet.