What if we went on an “information diet?”

What if there was a nutritional fact label about how much media you can consume every day? What would your “caloric” intake of digital media look like?

What if there were diets specifically for over-consuming on digital media?

How would those diets even look? How there is carbs, proteins, and fats… would there be social media, news, games and other micronutrients on social media?

Would you have to restrict yourself from over-consuming on a daily basis?

How many of us would be overweight or obese if how much information we consumed was directly related to weight?

Focus on the mind

We focus on our stock portfolio, bank accounts, social media, etc. but we don’t focus on the one thing that controls it all: our mind.

Stop and give your brain a break.

Your brain needs to take a break just like your muscles need a rest after working out.

How much of this information do we take in every single day actually brings us joy and happiness to our lives?

Meditate and allow the ideas to simmer.

Come back recharged and ready to learn more at a later date.

Sometimes it’s about the quality of your learning instead of the quantity.

Spend time with loved ones

Take the time you would have spent devouring information and spend it with loved ones.

Give them special time instead of learning something new.

Teach them what you have learned.

Excite them in your passions!

Volunteer with your local community

Take the information you have learned and put it to use.

Devote your new learned skills to good use and enrich the lives of others.

What you can do instead

When you are reading blogs and books, listening to books, watching YouTube videos, etc. don’t just consume the material.

Have a notepad and write down notes to take actionable tips away from the information. What L and I do is we use Google Keep to write notes when listening to podcasts. This allows us to take the information we consume and actually use it. Why else are you consuming the material?

Do you have times where you are consuming the information and forget why you were even watching, listening, or reading in the first place? It just turns into mind-numbing material at that point.

Be intentional about consuming media. Have a purpose of why you are researching a topic in the first place.

Use these apps to block you from distractions online or your smartphone.

SelfControl

SelfControl is a free and open-source application for macOS that lets you block your own access to distracting websites, your mail servers, or anything else on the Internet. Just set a period of time to block for, add sites to your blacklist, and click “Start.” Until that timer expires, you will be unable to access those sites—even if you restart your computer or delete the application.

Freedom

Freedom is the app and website blocker for Mac, Windows, Android, and iOS, used by over 1,000,000 people to reclaim focus and produc­tivity. Experience the freedom to do what matters most. Social media, shopping, videos, games…​these apps and websites are scienti­fically engineered to keep you hooked and coming back. The cost to your productivity, ability to focus, and general well-being can be staggering. Freedom gives you control.

FocusWriter

FocusWriter is a simple, distraction-free writing environment. It utilizes a hide-away interface that you access by moving your mouse to the edges of the screen, allowing the program to have a familiar look and feel to it while still getting out of the way so that you can immerse yourself in your work. It’s available for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X, and has been translated into many different languages.

WriteRoom

WriteRoom’s full screen writing environment gets your computer out of the way so that you can focus on your work. The result is a subtle clearing of the mind that I think helps you write better.

Smartphone Apps

Moment (iOS)

Space (iOS, Android)

Flipd (iOS, Android)

AppDetox (Android)

Stay on Task (Android)