Information Overload - Downside of the World Wide Web

Are you a web surfer? Do you spend most of your times, at home, at work, sitting in front of 12 inch monitor doing stuffs?

I'm asking you to take a look back around 20-30 years ago, when the world was a quieter place to live. When people went to bookstore to find about informations, or send a postmail when in need to communicate with others.

Then all of a sudden, you are surrounded with information. Informations that you have no idea whether it's right or wrong and they just keep coming whether you want it or not. Yes, thanks to the world wide web and the internet. The once conventional method of browsing for information; that could took hours to complete, now only a matter of minutes.

However, please be careful that what we do everyday in our life is divided in two.

1. The value added work
2. The non value added work

Vilfredi Pareto, an Italian scientist revealed that most of us spend 80% of our time to complete only 20% of important tasks. That's the reason why many people end up being mediocre; because they couldn't differ the value added and the non value added. This is later known as 'The Pareto Principles'.

I'm not saying that being overwhelmed by information is a bad thing. Hey, I like information as much as you do, especially free information. So, don't get me wrong. Many have said that whoever has the most information win in this time of era. True!

But bear also in mind that if our head is congested with information and ideas; chances are; we got stuck, not knowing what to do, or to be too considerable for everything. Suddenly, the world become so noisy and complicated and it is much easier to complicate things than to do the other way around.

Imagine you need to go from dot A to dot B. How can you reach B from A in efficient manner? Anybody will answer "Just go straight". In fact, it's true. But to theoritize and to practice is two different thing. In my previous article about self purpose, I wrote that we gotta have some sort of direction. Point B is our direction, assuming we're at point A.

Now, information overload can only hinder you and get you confused. You may get to point B, but the time you need will be much more. Or worse, you get lost.

To wrap things up, I will make it very simple for you, my valuable readers;

1. Have a clear self purpose
2. Get information only you STRICTLY NEED, no more, no less.
3. Get going!

That's it for now. Hope you can reach dot B in no time soon. Have a nice day!

Image by tina_manthorpe