Why clutter your mind with information overload?

“The blind pursuit of learning leads to excessive desires—the more you see, the more you want. Excessive desires, in turn, lead to anxiety and misery.”

– Derek Lin

I read the above words this morning and was reminded how important it is to have an end goal with everything – even reading and learning. My love of all things books and words has sometimes caused my mind to become cluttered and consumed. I rapidly consume a lot of information and do not give my mind time to digest what it has taken in so I do not get the full benefit from it. In a bid to escape present pressures, or to feel busy or clever it is easy to let ourselves read book after book, article after article and listen to podcast after podcast. Although it may seem as though we are getting through a lot of information quicker and therefore meeting our aims faster, if our aim is to grow from the education and enlightenment of these things – the excessive intake defeats the purpose.

Furthermore information overload creates anxiety and stress because we are mentally unable to digest everything. We need time! That feeling of tension and restlessness even when you are seemingly on the right track with personal development could be as a result of a cluttered mind.

As hard as it may seem sometimes we need to take a breather, chill and absorb what we already know. Is there a different angle we can look at the information we already have? Is getting a degree the only way we can best acquire any further education we need. Why do we feel the need to be constantly kept busy? These are vital questions that need to be answered to make sure we have used our time efficiently.

It is amazing how much we can change our lives simply by thinking a little.

Nissi.

For more on self and identity click here.