Information Overload?

[Kvath]

Hey all,

quick question. Is there something like too much information consumed? I'm currently studying for various fields of my life and i pass pretty much all of my time at home reading and studying.

Lately i've been having this feeling that there's too much info coming over my head and it creates this feeling of uneasiness/anxiety. I think it's related to the amount of info i'm using because it starts to appear some hours after i start.

Would like to read your comments about it  

[Joshaps]

I believe I understand what you're talking about.

I've been reading a lot of books and watching a lot of videos, and each branch into different fields if all kinds of information to take in and reflect on.

Personally it doesn't cause any kind of anxiety in me, though I do feel an uncertainty that I may not fully understand it. Like watching a video once and then feeling like you know all about it.

A way I've personally went about this so far is pretending like I'm explaining whatever particular subject im studying to someone else, without looking at the material. It's been a major difference because before I have an intuitive understanding of something, but when I try to explain it I can only speak generally. After I kind of 'rehearse' the information like im explaining it to someone else, all the information becomes so much easier to go through and retrieve at any given time.

[aurum]

There definitely can be information overload. But depending on the circumstances, I wouldn't say it should cause anxiety by itself. Maybe just a headache

[kurt]

@Kvath Too much study without practical application just creates a backlog of unassimilated information.  I had that and needed to see a psychologist to get it all out.  It does cause anxiety, because you end up smothering your actual psychology instead of assimilating it into your current knowledge and it actually becoming part of you.  

Take your time, and focus on one thing at a time.  

[Capethaz]

@Kvath Be more selective. Read information that you really need.

[alea]

Beyond anxiety... When I had my first and last panic attack two years ago, I noticed that I overloaded myself too much information. I was reading, I was listening to podcasts on the bus, I was always busy with this topic, that topic... My brain was really overloeded with problems, solutions, and information. 

Then, I stopped myself (or I had to stop) Now, I am more selective about information that I get and I ignore something.  

 

5 hours ago, kurt said:

@Kvath Too much study without practical application just creates a backlog of unassimilated information.  

  

I totally agree, you need practice whatever you learn. 

 

10 hours ago, Kvath said:

i pass pretty much all of my time at home reading and studying.

 

I think it is dangerous, go out, and spend time with real people and real life. Share your information with others, talk them. Enjoy your life..

[FindingPeace]

19 hours ago, Kvath said:

I'm currently studying for various fields of my life and i pass pretty much all of my time at home reading and studying.

Leaning 'information' is all well and good, but there can come a point when the amount of information you are trying to ingest and process just becomes a distraction from life itself. Sometimes that's the point - people want to be distracted from life and studying acedemic material creates a comfortable 'bubble', more rational, more logical and easier to gain results from than real life.

So be aware of your motives for your quest for information. And also leave room for studying life as well as all the abstract human-made conceptual stuff that won't actually help you cope with living life itself. Acedemia can become an identity for some rather than a passion or sideline. The question is: are you becomming identified with it or are you still in touch with your own 'self' and reality itself?

 

[Kvath]

Thanks a lot to all! Just read your comments and they are really useful.

I think one of the main reasons i was feeling conflicted was that i didnt have an aim with all this information i was obtaining so, as some of you said, i wasn't implementing it in my life.

This weekend i opted to make a weekly planning and while doing that i had to define some other aspects of my current projects.

This has given me much relief, although im just starting implementing it, because it forces me to apply all this knowledge im gaining while i keep learning. 

Will be updating you as time passes.

[Jared Gregory]

Hello guys, 

It was in 2015 i was in my 2nd year of Acting training, and my head had so much information to process. I thought it was anxiety as i kept panicking, worrying about the future will i do well in my assessment in next few days. To be fair i had six assessments in two days! if i knew about spirituality then well I wouldn't been so worried about everything. 

So now whenever i feel consumed by emotions, worry, crazy thoughts i just surrender to how i am feeling in that moment. I will often ask myself " is this benefiting me at this moment"? and take a few breaths and carry on

A positive routine always help me and i do it as i enjoy and choose to something i wouldn't of done a year okay.