If you’ve ever felt anxious for not going a full day without checking your phone, or accidentally leaving your phone at home… having trouble sleeping, etc, you might be suffering from information overload.

What is information?

Information is everything.

Information is the food you eat. Information are the words that vibrate in the air, and are interpreted by your brain as meaning.

Information are photos, the pixels captured by the sensor of your camera.

Information is the DNA in our bodies. Information is the blog posts we read, the books we read, the tweets we upload, the music we listen to.

To me, everything is information.

Why is information important?

We need information to NOT die.

If we didn’t intake food (information) we would die.

Also, we need information to gain more POWER, CONTROL, and INFLUENCE in the world and our lives.

In school, we seek an information advantage. We want higher marks and grades in our classes, to get a higher rank to get into a more prestigious college, and then get a more prestigious, high paying job. We think that having more money will give us more control over our lives (kind of true).

BLOOMBERG (the company and the man) are rich because they control financial and economic information. The BLOOMBERG MACHINE promises the user to get important information before the rest of the masses. If you read “Flash Boys” you will learn that even having a few milliseconds of advantage to information, you can make billions of dollars.

Open source information

I believe in information as a tool to EMPOWER us. I’ve learned everything I needed in life through the information given to me by my mom, my mentors, my local community, my teachers, my schools, and my books.

If I did not have ACCESS to this information, I wouldn’t have been able to let my inner-seed sprout, and grow to great heights.

To me, OPEN SOURCE INFORMATION is the secret to surviving, and thriving as a society and culture. The more open we are in sharing ideas the more everyone benefits.

For example, the more information I share and create, the more popular I become. The more products I sell, and the more experiences I sell. This helps me by making money, to support my family, but also helps encourage me to HELP OTHERS MORE.

The problem with information

The problem with information is that it consumes our attention. And when We lose our attention, it is very hard to get it back.

Consider,

1. Your life is limited, maybe 100 years at best.
2. No matter how many millions of dollars you have, you cannot “add” more years to your maximum lifespan.
3. When you give your attention to someone or something, you’re giving it your TIME. Therefore, ATTENTION is linked with TIME.
4. By giving away your attention, you’re giving away your time. And when you give away your time, you give away your life.
5. Question: Who do you want to give your life to?

How to Conquer information overload

Some practical ideas,

1. Pay for information:

“Free” information always has a free catch. Essentially you’re trading your attention, or your personal information, to be advertised to…or distracted.

2. Fast from information:

Science has proven that fasting from eating for “intermittent” periods of time (let’s say 18 hours) evokes a process called “hormesis”— we get stronger. Also when we are fasting from food, our bodies evoke “autophagy”— our strong proteins “vacuum clean” the weaker and unhealthier cells in our bodies.

Essentially, by fasting, we kill “pre-cancerous” cells in our bodies, and can live longer, healthier.

3. Turn off your devices:

If you really want to focus, turn off your phone, and turn off the wifi on your laptop. In the evenings, sleep with your phone charging in your living room. Institute a rule that your family doesn’t use devices while eating meals. Give yourself permission to get bored, the source of creativity. Go on long walks with no phone in your pocket. ZEN OUT.

And ultimately, just think to yourself,

Is this information empowering me, or de-powering me?

BE STRONG,
ERIC

ZEN PHILOSOPHY >