One of the Biggest Problems in Today’s Society: Information Overload

In today’s world, there is so much information out there, so many insights and ideas that we could spend our time doing. But then, what should we actually be doing with all of this?

The digital age has meant that we can see and do anything, anytime, anywhere we want to. This seems like an amazing benefit, and it is, but knowing what to do out of the billions of things out there definitely seems like a hard task. We only have a limited number of hours so can’t do everything and there is always a fear of missing out on something else.

As a result of the exponential increase in choices, we seem to of lost sight of the important ones. The right ones for us. Because people now have control over their choices and are unprepared for it they are overwhelmed with the ability to manage it.

Social pressures have also increased. Outside influences are appearing rapidly in all directions on our decisions. Technology has lowered the barrier for others to share their opinion.

It’s a mix of information overload and opinion overload.

We now also have the idea that ‘we can have it all’. Expectations have massively increased in conjunction with choice. This has led to people desperately trying to do more and overfilling their schedules.

Focusing our efforts and attention on a smaller stream of ideas while keeping an open minded perspective should dissipate some of this extreme information overload. Becoming prepared, reducing self-expectations and thinking about our choices and the extent of social pressure should help. But with the exponential growth of information, the challenge is likely to continue.