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I can't process the information that is coming at me

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: I can't process the information that is coming at me

#31

Post by burntoutfire »

no1youknowz wrote: post #10

Here's how I cope: Q: Where's my phone? A: I think it's on the shelf somewhere. Honestly I don't know. Q: How many tabs do I have open. A: Currently 5 and never more than 10. Q: How many times do I watch the news on TV. A: Never, I use youtube and I get the news from various sources on the topics that I want to hear. Q: How many IM apps do I have open. A: Just one, Skype and is reserved for friends only. Q: How many…

> Q: How many forums do I go to. A: Just two, HN and Reddit and on Reddit, I only browse the topics that I want to. I almost never go to the front page.

TIL Reddit has a frontpage.

Re: I can't process the information that is coming at me

#32

Post by rchaud »

ecoled_ame wrote: post #20

learn to skateboard and use your devices solely for content creation. fuck the world

I agree with you on the content creation part. I've found that working on your own stuff, be it creative or business-related will naturally cause you to focus your internet time on a specific topic of research.

That alone can go a long way towards fighting the instinct to open up the laptop or phone and surf idly; a terrible habit that we've likely all developed.

Now, if only I could put my phone down while I'm eating meals...

Re: I can't process the information that is coming at me

#33

Post by shrimp_emoji »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #22

I read somewhere that someone said (either about physics or CS): "There's 50 times as much going on as I can keep up with, and I only operate at 2% efficiency. So there's this factor of 2500 working against me, and every day I fall seven years further behind." And that was professionally . That wasn't trying to keep up with the news, and your friends' every social media post. So cut yourself some slack. Nobody can ke…

>So cut yourself some slack. Nobody can keep up with everything. You aren't broken, you aren't incompetent, you're just human, and humans have limited bandwidth. I think that's where the answer starts: Stop expecting that you can keep up. Stop thinking that it's reasonable that you can keep up. It's not a reasonable expectation; there's too much for that.

This.

But I only learned this kind of self-compassion after having my pride eroded to a nub. :3

Also, embracing the futility and meaninglessness and briefness of life helps. Reflect on your mortality, and how it might come sooner than you think. AND NOT IN A SAD WAY; more like in a humorous way, salted with the gratitude to have been (and still be) a part of everything. xD

Re: I can't process the information that is coming at me

#34

Post by panda888888 »

I know mindfulness is the latest trendy thing, but it's worth simply observing your habits and trying to recognize when you do something that could cause added stress.

If you're like me, you pick up your phone 1000x per day, so it's a constant interruption. I have lots of notifications on, so as soon as I get a new email, I see the notification and then read it. All of these little things seem insignificant on their own, but they add up.

If you're interested in doing some observation of your habits to get a more nuanced sense of what you like and don't like about your current digital life, I recommend the first couple of chapters of this book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25246881-mindful-tech

Re: I can't process the information that is coming at me

#35

Post by zicsus »

I once had this problem and the worst part was that I was getting worried thinking about those things. The best you can do is to cut the information that you take in and specially things that are out of your control. Focus on things that matters to you or affect your day to day life.

Re: I can't process the information that is coming at me

#36

Post by cookiengineer »

no1youknowz wrote: post #10

Here's how I cope: Q: Where's my phone? A: I think it's on the shelf somewhere. Honestly I don't know. Q: How many tabs do I have open. A: Currently 5 and never more than 10. Q: How many times do I watch the news on TV. A: Never, I use youtube and I get the news from various sources on the topics that I want to hear. Q: How many IM apps do I have open. A: Just one, Skype and is reserved for friends only. Q: How many…

Q: How many notifications did you get that prevented you from focussing on work? A: None. Uninstall all apps that do otherwise.

Q: What emails did you read with no actionable task inside? A: Every email with no task is another two minutes of lost time. Use GDPR if companies keep spamming you with nonsense.

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