| I wrote a chapter about this in my upcoming book. I'll spare the details and go into the tips. I'm going to share it here because this question is one I've tried to answer over the last few years. ===
How To Think With Information Overload
=== Here's my five-to-thrive idea for learning about something without information overload. You can also do this with vetted internet articles too, but be picky! 1. Start with the most popular & best selling book on the topic. 2. Next, a popular, but slightly more technical book on the topic. 3. Third, a semi-technical book that builds on the ideas of the first two books. 4. Follow it up with a hard book that brings in problems & opinions from experts. 5. Last, a book that talks about the future of the topic. ... While there are many different mediums in which you can get your information, I personally prefer books due to the amount of time that goes into them. The idea that you can absorb years of somebody’s life work in a few hours might just be the greatest gift we’ve been given. ===
Low Information Diet
=== As Michael Pollan says about plant-based foods: “If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.” I needed to supplement my content consumption with information straight from the source, not manufactured in a plant by online personalities or agencies. ... I had to train myself to stop clicking on clickbait by asking a question first. “Will I change anything about my life if I knew the answer to this question?”. The answer surely was no every single time, and I started to click less. ... Your actions are a consequence of your thoughts. Your thoughts are a consequence of what you consume. And what you consume is largely a consequence of how you filter and refine your information diet. If you choose better inputs, you’ll get better outputs. === Some other things to be careful of is "pluralistic ignorance" and "sensory deprivation" when it comes to only getting your information from a screen. The internet, TV, and computers are beautiful, but also can cause these feelings faster than traditional ways of getting information. I personally opt for less screen time and more ways to learn from others and nature. That keeps the baddies like analysis paralysis, FOMO, and anxiety at bay. It also makes life much more serendipitous and organic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluralistic_ignorance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory_deprivation |