Happy Wednesday, ladies!  I hope you’re having a fabulous week so far. This summer has been interesting for me because I’ve been home so much. I thought I would love it because, hello!, blogging time! But actually I’ve found myself experiencing content overload, or information overload. Although information overload is the technical term, I like to refer to it as content overload because it’s more specifically targeted to the creative content that is constantly being pushed at us. I mean, haven’t we all seen enough N-Sale posts by now?! Not that any of that content is bad, but it can be too much, especially when you aren’t watching how much you consume. So today I’m going to talk about how to deal when you’re feeling overwhelmed and how to prevent it in the future – without missing out on your favorite creators.

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COLLEGIATE PULLOVER (IDENTICAL WITHOUT THE LOGO)

IRL: AT HOME

This is one of the places where I fall most susceptible to content and information  overload. Although sometimes I find myself escaped for hours without knowing how I got there (I like to reorganize entire rooms on a whim), most often this is the place I end up glued to a screen. And oh, do I pay for it. For the last month I’ve had such severe backaches from sitting, I literally can’t sleep at night. Even though I’m drinking plenty of water and putting my phone down sooner in bed, I’m still waking up with a headache. Those are actual, physical ailments from too much content consumption.

CAREFUL CONSUMPTION

So to take a break at home, I start by leaving my phone in another room. The sound of the tv can drown out the noise of noisy neighbors and it soothes the pup, so sometimes I stream YouTube from my phone in the other room to the TV. But to cut down on the “consumption,” I opt for videos like daily vlogs that l couldn’t just sit and watch normally. I pick vloggers who have no animals and voices that are fairly soft for both mine and the dog’s sakes. I also enjoy the silence as much as possible, especially first thing in the morning. But once people start going in and out, the noise beyond the door gets nerve-wracking for her (and me when she barks).

GOING WITHOUT

Like I said above, I like to reorganize rooms for no reason. But that’s actually super helpful. Cleaning, doing dishes, reorganizing, going through your closet. Think of all the things you can do around your house that you can’t do while on your phone. I firmly believe in making the most of every minute, so if it’s screen time killing you, listen to a podcast. If it’s the general influx of info into your brain, opt for music or simply go without. Dancing around to music is also a good trick for emptying your brain and helping relieve your body of the tension that builds up when we sit in front of a screen.

DIGITALLY

When it comes to content and information overload, sometimes it’s not enough to just walk away. Take a few minutes to go through your following lists and mercilessly unfollow. You are not obligated to follow anyone on social media ever. Repeat that to yourself a few times. Your brain does not need to be on constantly. Social media, although content, can be an amazing escape but you have to make it one and you have to make sure it stays one.

UNFOLLOW ALL THE ACCOUNTS

I recently went through my personal Facebook and unfollowed (but stayed friends with) 99% of my friends. It’s not that I don’t love them, but I don’t need that burden. Did they post a lot of political commentary? Unfollow, whether I agreed with their views or not. I talk about politics everyday, I don’t need to read *usually uniformed* opinions, too. Did they post or share too much? Gone. Too much content, too easy to get sucked in. Now my timeline is something I can scroll through and see all of and with engage with in 5-10 minutes MAX, making my time spent there more fruitful and fulfilling.

I also did the same on Instagram and Twitter. If I’m not excited my 75%-80% of the posts someone posted, I unfollowed them. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to support them or didn’t love what they produced, it’s just that it was too. damn. much. On IG, because I followed them for so long, they often appear on my explore page anyway, so I can still easily see and support them, but it’s on my time.

Twitter is the same story. I also ruthlessly Mute people and conversation topics that make me feel frustrated or anxious. Social media is the place I want to go to to see pretty things and relate to other people venting about nonsense. We can’t run from strangers talking politics or hide from the pure insanity that is life these days, so why not save a digital space or two so that you can run somewhere.

PURGE ALL THE FILES

After (or before, whatever floats your boat – I’m not your mom) you unfollow all the stressful topics and accounts and clean your whole house twice, tackle your digital storage. You don’t have to do it all in one day. Hell, you don’t even have to do it systematically. Scroll to a random spot in your photos and delete all that you can see that you don’t need. There. You made a dent.

This is where I am right now. I’m feeling ready and motivated to tackle my bigger online files, but I started with my laptop. Moving as much as possible to my Dropbox and off the computer so I don’t feel cluttered by it. It’s literally not there (but I can download it if I need it). Next, I’ll probably go through random saved files on Dropbox of who knows what or the photos that it autosaves from my device. I’m pretty sure there’s several thousand awkward up-the-nose shots from accidental photos and random screenshots of the lock screen from it bouncing around in my purse. It doesn’t do much, but it is immensely satisfying to have that clutter gone. It makes your brain feel empty – which is the whole point of this post.

FOR THE FUTURE

The last and final way to deal with information overload is to prevent it to begin with. I already mentioned unfollowing accounts that make your brain spin in circles. So while your at it, why don’t you unsubscribe from unnecessary email lists, purge your inboxes and saved emails, and round up the ones you want to keep, but not necessarily look at every day, with a service like Unroll.me. It’s not perfect, but it helps.

DO THE THING, YOU KNOW, THE ONE WHERE YOU’RE HEATHY

Eat right. Drink water. Exercise. Yep. It helps with information overload. The exercise is obvious, you can’t really read that angry tweet when you’re bouncing up and down on a treadmill or playing an intramural. But you also need to remember to eat right and drink enough water. Part of this is because you get so sucked into the screen you forget these things, but also because you tend to go for something easy like junk food or a cold soda in order to get back to it faster.  You need to take the time to make a healthy meal and pour yourself cold water (with lemon if you need some flavor) to keep your body going. These healthy consumption choices will also ensure you have the energy to actually exercise, so yeah. It’s almost as if this is all cyclical.

GET NOTIFIED

After you’ve taken all that time to purge your accounts, I’m sure you’ll find a few that you still like to see more than the others. Life’s boring to only follow three people. So turn on notifications for the content creators or just random people you like to hear from and see the most. That way you can click the notification, see their post, and leave the app or website more successfully than if you tried to enter from the regular feed. Less chance to get sucked into content means less chance for content overload.

DO THE OBVIOUS & GET MEAN ABOUT IT

Finally, get the hell offline. Twiddle your thumbs and stare at the ceiling, I don’t care. Just turn it off. You don’t have to do it every day, but frantically googling why you’re having an anxiety attack isn’t going to make the anxiety attack go away – especially when it’s the friggin’ internet that caused it to begin with! Be harsh with yourself. You make the rules for how you spend your time online, so set boundaries and stick to them. The only one I can blame when my back is killing me from sitting at the computer for 6 hours is myself. It’s my own fault for not getting up and moving, or even just finding a way to work in a standing position.

I’ve stopped coddling myself when it comes to information overload and I’ve refused to allow myself to feel guilty for missing out. #NoFOMO doesn’t mean doing all the things, it means not feeling bad for not doing them. Be harsh, but be forgiving. It takes time. There’s still a few subscriptions and accounts I can’t get rid of because they’ve been with me for so long, even though they’re no longer serving me. But I’m working on it. In the meantime, I’m much better at getting up and off the computer more. I pick up a notepad and draft ideas rather than typing them out. And I’ve reorganized my bathroom like 15 times this summer which is complete nonsense, but quite satisfying.

IT’S 100% ON YOU

It happens slowly, but it happens. I feel significantly happier, more relaxed, and more inspired than I did a month ago. And even more so than I did 3 months ago. 100% the information overload was my own fault, but it’s also 100% my success that I’ve come so far in dealing with it. And it will 100% be the same for you. So what are you waiting for?

Do you ever experience content or information overload? How do you deal with it?