Before you click off this letter I want you to understand why you want to click off.
I’ve studied what makes a good online content for months. I’m not planning to make this a good content. Here’s why:
- Good content make you unconscious
- Good content turn off a part of your brain that makes you self reflect
- Good content enable you to avoid your emotions
There’s a war between consciousness and unconsciousness and I’m on the side of consciousness.
I made this letter calm to help you.
Yes you will now feel a bit awkward and self aware.
No worries man I’ve got you covered.
That’s a short period.
It all gets better soon.
You will stop your Information binge here. Give me 10 minutes and you will get back hours.
You are a curious mind, I appreciate that a lot and I know how you feel. Your curious mind is a big strength in this information age. You want to learn about the effects of an information binge on your brain. That’s cool!
And I promise we get to that soon.
Something in you beliefs that if you understand your own brain, you can stop the YouTube binge.
There’s one problem.
The “Aha-moment” never satisfies you enough to stop.
Let’s talk from human to human. I’ve been in your position and sometimes still am.
Your brain is made for an environment of 200.000 years ago. It got trapped in a technologically advanced system that understands exactly which of your buttons to push to keep you engaged. That’s not fair.
The brain activity while gambling or discovering new information looks similar.
Scientist could put a dollar amount on the information. For example learning how to stop a YouTube binge can give your brain the same sensation as winning 10 dollars while gambling.
The problem is that your brain doesn’t care if the information is useful. That explains why you can loose 3 hours by watching how to catch mud crabs in mangroves without your bare hands.
New information, not useful.
Don’t feel guilty about an information binge. Here’s why it’s understandable that you got trapped:
- We live in the achievement society. You feel pressure to perform. A part of you knows that if it doesn’t do anything it can’t fail. This is a kind of pressure not experienced by the human brain before.
- Information addiction has an extremely low threshold of entry. You don’t need a dealer, just a screen.
- It’s socially accepted. Better yet, people share content all the time. There’s even peer pressure to read!
Let’s get you out of the rabbithole, and back on track.
Many people feel like they have lost the day once their mind has been flooded with information. But that’s not true.
You can win today.
It’s not about the amount of information that entered your mind, it’s about your adrenaline score.
I’ve been on an information binge and still became productive later in the day.
Your mind can feel a bit foggy right now. That’s because your posture isn’t optimal and you have been breathing shallow. Your breath influences how clear you think.
Our first goal is to get your adrenaline score down.
On a range from 0 to 10 it’s probably around 7 right now.
Take a deep breath.
And once you think you’ve breathed in fully, breathe in a bit more.
This is called the double breath. It’s something we naturally do when our body want to let go of tension. Now slowly breathe out.
Do this 3 more times. Breathe in fully. Once full, breath in a little more. Now slowly exhale.
I don’t care if you do it through your mouth or nose. The goal is to relax, not to worry.
2 more. Breathe in fully, and a bit more.
Notice that this is also something your body does when crying. We tend to do the double breath automatically.
Now let go.
And one last time. Breathe in fully. You might start yawning. That’s great. This is a sign that your adrenaline score is dropping.
You will feel clearer in your mind.
There’s this strange thing I call emotional amnesia.
We tend to forget how things make us feel.
Now all you need is just a little bit of trust. Trust that after taking a walk, your brain will be more clear.
After this letter grab a glass of water. Feel the hydration flowing through your body. If necessairy also have a meal which is made of simple ingredients.
an apple, omelet, nuts. Something your grandma used to eat when she was your age.
Now let’s get some movement.
I promise you will feel better.
That’s just how your body works. Go for a walk, one hour, 10 minutes, what works for you. Here’s the funny thing.
You will feel like it’s a waste of time.
But it will pay itself back by giving you a clear mind. After moving your body for a while you will feel a bit better. You have to trust that your subconscious mind is processing all the information.
That’s the goal of the walk. You will have a lot of thought, and that’s normal. Think of it as your mental stomach, digesting information.
Now let’s get some perspective. After spending hours on an information binge you might feel guilt.
Guilt for not being productive. Realize that most of your thought and beliefs come from your childhood caregivers. And they in turn got them from their caregivers. You might feel that you are worthy, only when you are productive. But realize that there is no one to blame for this thought, as it’s roots go back far in your family tree.
Your mind is good at protecting yourself. Like any addiction, there’s a reason why we do them.
It’s not bad.
It’s a part of you trying to cope with something that you find uneasy. I know that I’m no supposed to make you feel self-conscious and that you might want to click away. But uneasiness will come sooner or later.
I invite you to explore that compassionately right now. You know there is something you are avoiding. That’s okay and understandable. Let’s acknowledge that part of yourself that loves to binge Information.
It’s there for a reason. It is protecting you from uneasy feelings and thoughts.
Show it some appreciation.
Tell that part of yourself that you are grateful for trying to help you. This can feel strange, because your normal reaction would be to feel angry towards yourself. Anger is only feeding it.
We are breaking the cycle in this letter. Ask that information binge part of you what it is trying to protect you from. It will probably say some of the following:
- I don’t want to do the work because I don’t want to fail and feel worthless
- I don’t want to do anything because I have no energy, I don’t deserve self care.
- I don’t want to feel alone and unimportant
At this moment it might feel as if this is your personality. This is who you are. Even if I would tell you that you are an amazing person, you wouldn’t believe me.
Even though you can logically understand that you did great things in the past.
You can’t access those emotions. That’s okay an that’s human.
You are thinking black and white, which means that you are thinking emotionally.
Let’s get you to look at yourself more realistically.
Relaxation is key here.
Feel if there is any tension in your belly, jaws, shoulders or other parts of you body and simply let go of it.
Your body can’t hold an emotion when it’s fully relaxed.
Have you ever seen someone scream while also laying down in a comfortable way? This can’t go together. Let go of tension.
Remember any moment from the past – big or small – that gave you a winning feeling. We are looking for the feeling, not how big the accomplishment was.
Maybe your teacher gave you a compliment when you were in school.
Maybe your colleague or client told you that you did an amazing job.
Or your friends told you how much they appreciate you. See if you can get to that feeling of that moment.
- In what location were you?
- In a room?
- Outside?
- Do you remember some details from that location?
- Who where there?
- What where their facial expressions?
- Did you stand or sit?
- Do you feel the pressure of your body on the chair or your feet?
- Are there sounds in the environment?
Notice how that moment made you feel in your body. You might have the urge to smile.
Maybe you notice that you are feeling proud of what you did and who you are. Just feel that feeling for a second.
Now hold that feeling and come back to the present. Notice that the world is what you make of it.
You can look at the situation from different angles and they are all wrong and right at the same time.
I trust in you.
What is the smallest possible step that you can take right now? is it:
- Closing your screen after this letter?
- Grabbing a glass of water?
- Subscribing to my newsletter?
- Taking a double breath?
- Eating broccoli?
Take that small step. Get that small win. Show yourself that you can do it.
My goal is to stop information addiction in the information age. I’m building a community, if you are interested join here.
Thank you for reading and Good luck!