We all have to face the fact that many aspects of the unprecedented overload of information witnessed during the 21st century will continue to make us anxious. The information age has changed our way of life and our lifestyle, that many people today suffer from information-related anxiety in one form or another. The world is saturated and inundated with information from printed materials, the internet, radio, television, or other means. Truly we are living during information obesity.
Is there anything you can do about information-related anxiety? Yes, you have the option of controlling some of these, but some of these have little or no control at all. There are steps you can take to eliminate much of these anxieties, if not all. After all, you might say that survival in the information age is a challenging task but can can also be rewarding.
BEST MEDIUM OF INFORMATION
We are all receivers and givers of information in some way, whether consciously or subconsciously. We cannot deny it. Receiving information through reading is processed consciously and takes a longer time. In this instant information age, we have lost the art and pleasure of reading because of its time-consuming nature.
Many allow television, social media, internet, and website information monopolizes their time. It is true that accessing information through the power of computers, convenience, and speed has reached a higher level almost instantly. Still, the most powerful way of stimulating and transmitting information, ideas, and concepts is in the form of written words.
BEST WAY TO RECEIVE INFORMATION
How best can you cope with the anxiety of reading materials competing with instant media information and social media platforms all through the internet? The simple solution is screening or sorting out. That means you need to prioritize what you need to hear, see, say, or read and separate the facts from other related facts. In these ways, you can eliminate much information anxiety. This method will be helpful for those who are pursuing research work or competitive examinations from being overwhelmed by the mammoth of information and materials available.
1. FIRST LEVEL SCREENING:
Let us look at two levels of effective screening. The first level is to keep your needed information simple by narrowing your field of information relevant to your life and project whichever you are endeavoring to glean from. Please do not go by the fundamental of infomania that the one who possesses most information has an advantage over others who are less able to access it. Do not become overly infomamaniac. You should know that infomania is no longer a means to an end, but it is an end itself.
Please do not go by what the advertising skills of the media lead us to believe you need. Most advertisements are paid trumpeters for drawing attention, creating curiosity, and gettingetting people to delve into it. Many say that more choices you have mean more appropriate actions you can take with more freedom. But it is also a myth and will lead you into confusion. In simple words, collect information close to your subject and and avoid many trivial backgrounds or deluge of related information.
2. SECOND LEVEL SCREENING:
The next level of effective screening in gathering instant information is to focus on having prioritized intake. In other words, among your gathered choice of information after the first screening, the next step is to narrow down further and select factual uncluttered information. In your personal file, maintain all the best choices of factual and uncluttered information in a properly aligned order, which you believe will help you learn faster and remember well.
After outline-making work is completed, the next task is to classify your information according to your needs with heartfelt interest,,, which should motivate your search. So continue making needed adjustments on your file. Please remember that subscribing to many daily newspapers and receiving unsolicited junk mail in mailboxes will create a tendency to clutter your information with many trivia.
3. KNOW WHAT INTERESTS YOU:
Another area where you will find it difficult for yourself is to know the difference between what really interests you and what you might think should interest you, which may be to please some cross-section of people in your workplace or elsewhere.
The best thing to do is whatever information you have collected, invested, and searched is built around your heartfelt and genuine interest, not necessarily to please some people. You may look up all the materials passed out through the above two steps and do an overall review. If there is anything you need to make further adjustments related to by the third step, promptly follow through and check. Delete or remove materials that are out of harmony from your own interest. You can make for a pleasant journey of your information quest without undue anxiety by doing all that way.
YOU CAN COPE WITH INFORMATION ANXIETY
You may never eliminate information anxiety, but just a few simple rules outlined above will helpgreatly help. Let us recall back few rules: screen or filter the information, the first screen is to keep the information simple, the second screen is to classify the information, and the third is according to your personal needs and genuine interests.
Keep the marvels of modern technology in their place by treating it as a means for a purpose to an end. Never be a slave of modern technology or stand amazed by its wonder. Otherwise, you would be drowned in the sea of information. Useful, factual, and healthy information is always up the building, beneficial, encouraging, and refreshing without causing you undue anxiety. So you can confidently look forward now to a rewarding journey through information superhighway and be a success with less anxiety.
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