Too much information as an impediment for action

One area I've found helpful is focusing on sources of clarity. With the volume of information/data of all levels of quality becoming so abundant to the point of being overwhelming, and that volume used to influence, the more I can identify the answer to these two points with what is being shoved my way, the better I feel about what I do ultimately select:

- What supposed truth is this information trying to uphold or undermine?

- Is this information trying to make me more or less active on the previous point?

Increasingly I'm getting out of the habit of accepting "I've heard something like this a LOT lately" as a positive sign of influence or motivation toward a next step. Any idiot can buy out the podcast ad inventory to sell their buddy's brain genius pills, it doesn't make consumption wise.

(The poster linked to their own blog post, so maybe they'll add their own opinion to either, rather than summarizing two quotes from David Allen.)

Current things I do to relieve the stress of information overload: I do not use Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or Twitter and I only look at my ~10 subscribed subreddits, all of which are meme-free. I only have a Netflix subscription, which I use infrequently. I use a decoy email for all non-important things like receipts, mailing lists, etc., about which I receive no notifications. I pre-cook my meals whenever possible. I live in an apartment even though I can afford not to. I have one debit and one credit card through the same bank, and my wallet has only these cards, an ID and a transit pass. I exercise at a circuit training gym so I don't have to plan my workouts.

To some people this seems like ridiculous/overboard, but to me the opposite is true. I estimate that I have re-gained 3+ hours per day of high quality personal time by reducing my consumption and getting a job closer to my home. This has allowed me to do work I consider important such as volunteering and creating less superficial relationships. This doesn't even account for the stress relief that comes with not having constant FOMO and political malaise from social media or having to worry about house maintainence.

I still try to evaluate my life to see if I can further streamline unimportant nonsense, but I think I'm hitting a point of diminishing returns--if I removed more information inputs and responsibilities it would reduce the quality of my social life, enjoyment of hobbies, and/or personal growth. For instance, I would get rid of my car as I use it infrequently, but I feel that if I got rid of it I would become more of a burden on family and friends in my life, many of whom would need to be drive to me if we wanted to meet. Eventually I would like to start my own business, which will cause me to have to deal with a lot more of the types of things I avoid in my life, but I will be able to do it because of the singular focus I am afforded by not filling my brain with saccharine garbage.

People, myself included, get caught up wanting the best things, but we can get caught in thinking that having more good things is more good in itself, when probably the opposite is true. It is very similar to how the FDA, due to political reasons, will say things like "people should eat more vegetables", when in reality the advice should be "people should eat less overall".