Yesterday, I announced I was exclusively posting my first book here on Steemit. Check out the introduction here
(Information Consumption: A Short Guide To Cutting Out Distractions, Saving More Time And Becoming More Productive )
Why We Read So Much? And Tips On Getting More Done - Contd
ANXIETY OF MISSING OUT
“You will never catch up with events happening around you. The earlier you believe and work accordingly on this, the more productive you become”
The fear of missing out is perhaps the greatest reason why we spend a large part of our day on the Internet. The empty feeling you experience if you've not checked your email, feeds and social media notifications is something you can relate to. Here’s how you can rid yourself of this harmful feeling.
Over the course of reading this chapter, there have been approximately 2.5 million Facebook posts; 277,000 tweets; 216,000 Instagram pictures, 8,333 Vines, 72hrs of YouTube Videos, 3,472 Pinterest images released PER MINUTE. ALL NEW. This is in addition to the tons you’ve not checked yesterday, last week, month or year.
Do you sincerely believe you can go through all these seemingly "interesting not-omissible" information? Of course not. Not even as a bot. More reason why you've to embrace Less is More. (In the next chapter, I would share more tips including tools to achieve this. )
Besides, a greater benefit of Less is more is ridding yourself of the constant need for valuation. It’s so easy to fall prey to the happy “all is fantastic” attitude posed by Facebook and Instagram posts. We end up harming ourselves by comparing our beginning with that of someone’s middle or end.
There Are No New Ideas
Successful creatives know this is certainly true. In his book, Steal Like An Artist, Austin Kleon noted that there are no new ideas. What we have is an innovative combination of old ideas to create a new one. Something popular author, James Altucher, calls idea sex.
Aggressively Filter Push Notifications
If you’re using a smartphone, the constant blink of notifications’ LED can make you feel you’re losing CONTROL. You should aggressively go through all app notifications settings and turn them off or schedule them to a particular time. I did this and the results were tremendous. And the same was felt by several other people who implemented it. Being in control of the stream of information into your life is awesome.
You could also switch on the airplane mode on your device. This will stop all incoming notifications and calls while you work.
Negative consequences
Rewarding yourself when you do not give in to your internet-binging desires is cool. However, setting a negative consequence will add a new sparkle to your efforts. For example, you can decide to give one person you dislike so much a nice compliment and $50 whenever you frivolously spend an hour on the internet.
3.PERFECTIONISM
“Done Is Better Than Perfect. Learn By Doing. Fail Faster”
The quotes above are some of the popular mantras, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and several successful entrepreneurs live by. Having an eye for detail is certainly not bad. But it’s disheartening when we spend enormous amounts of time trying to perfect an idea, a research or presentation. Apart from wasting lots of valuable time, you are likely to lose focus of your goal. And this, on introspection, is very frustrating.
4.PROCRASTINATION
Admit It. Which is easier and offer instant gratifications. Finishing that all-important job OR watching just one more YouTube video. Of course you would go with watching the video on YouTube. Procrastination is increasingly becoming the major reason why we consume more and more information
Here are some helpful tips:
- Listen to your brain on why you’re procrastinating:
While procrastination is in of itself bad, often, it might give you an insight into a better way of doing things. There is certainly a reason why your brain is trying to trick you into delaying that activity to a later time. While this might be attributed to laziness, it could be:
^ You’re really not interested in that activity and/or it’s not that important
^ You’ve not made adequate research and you’re most likely to fail
Think deeply and ponder over the reasons why you’re procrastinating.
-Block All Distractions:
^ Use a website blocker: There are a number of effective distraction-blocking apps out there.
Self-Control(Mac), Freedom(PC),Anti-Social (Mac and PC), FocusOn and FocusLock.
^ Use an ad blocker:
Most online content creators won’t like to hear this. You would, however, agree that pervasive ads are distractions tricking you into the internet click-hole and by the time you gain “online consciousness’ valuable time has been spent.
P.S I'm looking forward to reading your feedback..