Welcome to the information age.
We’re all swimming over our heads in information. And if you take a closer look, most people are drowning.
Between social media, tv, email, YouTube videos, podcasts and whatever else – most people are in a constant state of information overwhelm.
The average person wakes up and checks their phone, inundating their consciousness with information and hyper-normal stimuli, and it doesn’t stop until they’re in bed. Well actually, a lot of people even look at their phones in bed.
Note: If you’ve studied well-being or productivity at all, you already know not to start or end your day this way. See morning routines and evening routines.
Remember that our diet is much more than the food we eat. It’s also the information we consume. And when it comes to information diet, most people are bloated with fast food and junk food. Even people who read a lot of books (like myself) find themselves intaking more information than they can effectively digest.
Information has become so omnipresent that it’s really hard to avoid. You have to be conscious and intentional to even start filtering your information intake.
While information is obviously beneficial, there’s a balance. Like with everything, there’s a point where it becomes detrimental.
Not only is there a balance of helpful/unhelpful in terms of the amount (quantity), there’s also a balance of helpful/unhelpful with quality as well. For example, 20 minutes of watching the fear programming of the news is a whole different experience compared to 20 minutes of reading The Tao Te Ching.
As a collective, we’re still in the process of finding this balance with information. It doesn’t help that tech companies are incentivized to keep people’s attention on their platforms because that’s how they ensure profitability. So they develop more and more sophisticated ways of grabbing and keeping people’s attention.
To thrive, you need to know yourself better than algorithms know you.
For a deeper dive into this specific topic, see:
When Information Becomes A Problem
When information is high-quality, and consumed in a balanced way, it’s incredibly empowering and transformative. There’s no doubt about that.
However, this is not the information environment most people are operating in today.
I’m going to be blunt here: 95%+ of information is straight up distraction.
The news is all distraction. TV is all distraction. Movies are almost all distractions. Social media is almost all distraction. Most podcasts are distractions. Most books are even distractions.
The 5% or less of information that’s not a distraction is the information that changes your life and helps you understand yourself and reality better.
If you get really honest with yourself, most of your information consumption is based on distraction. It’s an unconscious pattern, an addiction or something you do to avoid boredom.
Think about it, most people watch tv as a default activity. People turn on the news by default, or because they want assurance about what’s happening in the world. Note: If you haven’t realized yet, the news is designed to program, not inform.
Blaise Pascal poignantly described our tendency to use information as distraction when he said, “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”
Let that quote sink in for a moment.
Most information consumption is a form of escapism. Why? Because looking within, especially at our darker aspects, is the scariest thing in the world for the ego. So in order to avoid looking within, we seek to distract ourselves. And one easily accessible distraction for everyone is information (tv, movies, social media, podcasts, books, etc).
Again, if you get honest with yourself, you’ll realize that most of the information you consume is a form of distraction.
What’s the solution? In order to create a more healthy relationship with information – and be a master of information instead of it mastering you – you need to pause and gain some perspective.
The way to do this is through information detoxing.
Even people who are obsessed with reading and learning, like myself, benefit greatly from taking a break. When you stop consuming so much information, you give yourself space to integrate everything you’ve learned on a deeper level. On top of this, you also strengthen your own intuition and develop different forms of intelligence than you would by just reading.
Whether you watch tv every day, check social media more than you know is helpful, read voraciously, or anything in between, an information detox will benefit you.
Information Detox 101
An information detox is simple. It’s more about NOT doing than doing.
Basically, you stop consuming information for a given period of time.
What does this mean?
- No social media – Only use social media to post and share your creativity. Don’t scroll or absorb any content.
- No tv – It’s called television “programming” for a reason.
- No movies – Most big budget Hollywood movies are littered with programming.
- No video games – Level up in real life instead.
- No videos – We all know the YouTube rabbit hole effect.
- No podcasts – Yup, podcasts too.
- No books – This one is the hardest for me. I’m a total bookworm.
I recommend information detoxing for at least 5 days. If you’re feeling bold, you can try up to 30 days.
The funny thing is most people don’t know what to do with themselves without this stuff, which is a big indicator that we all need an information detox.
That begs the question, what do you do when you’re information detoxing? The good news is that you have an infinite number of options.
Here are some ideas that will benefit you physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually:
- Meditation – This is the most important one
- Journaling
- Contemplation
- Dancing
- Singing
- Playing music
- Writing
- Walking outside
- Exercise
- Stretching/Mobility work
- Quality time and conversations with family/friends
- Cooking and experimenting with new recipes
- Anything creative
- Self-care
- Cleaning
- Yardwork
- Hiking
- Outdoor activities
- Working on a new business
- Volunteering
- Giving/gifting
- Intuitive movement
- Playing physical games/sports (even making up your own)
- Prayer
- Gardening
These are all things that are incredibly beneficial. And most people don’t do enough of these types of practices these days. So not only are you reaping the benefits, you’re also benefiting from the spice of spontaneity and switching things up a bit in your life.
Here’s a quick one sentence summary of the information detox: Stop consuming information altogether for at least 5 days.
There are exceptions to this. The most common one would be with your work. If your work requires you to consume information, just keep it limited strictly to your work. For example, if you need to read an article to write a report for work, only read that article. If you run your company’s Facebook Group, bookmark that group url and only go to that page. Don’t check your Facebook feed.
You don’t need to be obsessive and rigid with the rules here, just be completely honest with yourself.
The Big Picture Purpose
The purpose of an information detox is not to give up information altogether. It’s to create balance and provide you with more perspective regarding your relationship with information.
This done at scale upgrades the nature of the information ecosystem, incentivizing higher quality and more beneficial information. Yet without awareness and balance, it’s easy to slide into the race-to-the-bottom low quality, toxic information ecosystem.
Consuming information to distract yourself, or as a mindless addiction, isn’t helpful. When you do an information detox, you become acutely aware of this. You can’t default to your distractions. You need to actually process why you want to distract yourself in the first place. That awareness can be so powerful for your personal and spiritual growth.
It also makes you reevaluate what you’re trying to get or achieve by consuming information, as well as your sense of identity. This gets into the self-inquiry, “Who am I?” territory.
Ultimately, we are pure awareness. Our essence cannot be taken from us, nor can it be added to you. This means that nothing you absorb or learn can truly complete you. You’re already whole, and the only thing blocking your inherent wholeness is your belief that you aren’t whole.
Does this mean you’re perfect? More like perfectly imperfect, with greater awareness of both your light and dark aspects. It’s a continuous acceptance being/becoming, instead of a constant reaching.
When you seek to get something from information (numbing, escapism, reassurance, fear alleviation, a self-worth boost, etc), you’re attached to it. It becomes addictive.
However, when you realize that you’re already whole, your relationship with information changes. Instead of attaching to it as something to make you better, it becomes pure entertainment. It becomes an exploration, an adventure of consciousness.
From this perspective, you can enjoy information and entertain it thoroughly, without compulsiveness. Hello freedom.
By implementing strategic information detoxes, you dissolve the shackles of information enslavement with higher awareness. With this renewed perspective, you can become a masterful explorer and connoisseur of information.
This is the alchemy of information, intentionally bringing it in-formation and illuminating it with your embodied experience, until it crystallizes into wisdom.
With Infinite Love,
~ Stephen Parato
PS – Start contemplating where you’re imbalanced with information, and consider doing your own information detox. Higher perspective and deeper innerstanding awaits.
