If we have too much of something, we just might have too little of something else. What prompted me- for the last week- to think about it was observing myself, family members, friends, and random people who I noticed all doing the same thing. We are all absorbed by what is on our phones- and most of it was social media related.
I was remembering the day fondly when I had to wait to watch a movie until I was at home in front of the tv, the day I didn’t know the lives of so many others inside and out- both known and unknown to me, and I didn’t have to see any news unless I looked at it on purpose.
I have just been feeling like it is all too much. And if nothing else, it is too much from a brain health standpoint. The overload of information that we allow to come at us on a daily basis is too much to maintain a healthy brain. It is called cognitive overload. This can lead to feeling stressed out, confused, unproductive, and we will just not be able to think clearly. We may not be able to calm our brains down and get quality sleep which leads to a whole list of other challenges.
I am suggesting another challenge this week- reduce your information intake- just for the week. You are positively primed and empowered if you spent the last week looking for beauty around you. I encourage you to keep going with that and create some space in your life that doesn’t include being on your phone, social media, and other intakes of news and information- especially the one you spend the most time on. You will need to set boundaries and get accountability. You will need to dig deep and employ self discipline.
If you have no problem taking a meaningful break, great. After a week, go back to it intentionally with some personal rules. If it turns out to be challenging, or even, like me, you notice yourself picking your phone up without thought, it is time to look deeper and take real action.
Really look to gain awareness. Some inputs we are choosing, others are sneaky and unless we pay attention we will be inviting more information mindlessly.
I hope you are in! We will regroup next week to see how 1-2 weeks looking for beauty and a week of cutting back on input, especially screens is impacting you!