Tips for overcoming infomania in your life

Do you ever feel like you’re a slave to the different screens you have in your life? It should come as no surprise that most of us have more than one electronic device we check on a regular basis. Do you ever feel like you just can’t process all the information coming at you from all those screens but that doesn’t stop you from looking at them? This behavior is called “infomania” and it’s a real problem for some people.

It’s easy to say you’re not going to check your email once you leave work or you’re just going to read from your tablet for a few minutes before bed and then put it away. Infomania is an obsession; it’s the compulsion to check or accumulate news and information on a more than regular basis. So how do we survive this phenomenon?

Information overload is a very real problem for many people. This is more than just reading CNN on your tablet while you eat breakfast. This is about the “digital junkies” that can’t go for long without looking at a screen to absorb more info. These are the people that feel they are starving for information and worry about what they might be missing if they aren’t online.

The idea of overloading on one particular thing certainly isn’t new, but our obsession with all things digital is getting out of hand. Educated people from as far back as the early 1300s have had an abundance of information available to them. Think of a room filled with books or a dusty cavern full of scrolls. Did you know it is estimated that most Americans spend about 12-15 hours a day absorbing information, much of it things they don’t really need? This goes beyond studying for school or work, this is where the obsessive desire to see more comes from.

Have you ever experienced headaches, twitchy eyes, insomnia, or muscle pain from too much time getting information from a screen? Does it make you want to stop or just power through for more info? Studies have shown that interruptions can lead to stress, which makes it harder to properly concentrate.

So how do you fix it? It’s easier said than done but it’s not impossible to overcome. Dedicate some time each day to be screen/information free. Take 10 minutes to meditate quietly or declare your bedroom a tech-free zone. Just like any addiction, going cold turkey will always be harder so maybe start small and then add to your time each day.