Do you ever unlock your phone in the morning just to be greeted with Instagram notifications and news headlines and text messages?
If so, in addition to being super popular (good for you!), you’re also experiencing information overload. What is information overload, you ask?
Information overload is the excess amount of information available that prevents people from being able to complete a task or decision. Basically, you’re so overwhelmed with all the content in front of you that you can’t decide the right action to take.
In the past, content and information was available to a smaller group of people and reached them in a longer amount of time. Consider letters, for example, where you sent a single one to another individual or small group. Letters take, depending on where you send them, at least a couple of days to reach their destination.
The creation of the Internet and the exponential growth in technology has changed all that. We have constant and instant access to new information, sometimes against our will. Smartphones, especially, have opened up the world of content at your very fingertips. You can access everything, and I mean everything, on a small box you slip into your pocket.
Now, emails and text messages (remember they used to be called Instant messaging) completely eradicate the amount of time you have to wait to receive something. In fact, in 2017, there were 16 million text messages and 156 million emails sent in just 1 minute. If your coworker sends you a text or an email, you’re expected to respond immediately. You no longer have time to reflect or think.
Not only does this hurt your brain (and your eyes), but it has the potential to affect what decisions you make, or if you make them at all. Our brains cannot process all this information at once, so they essentially shut down. A psychiatrist, Edward Hallowell, states that because of the excess of information, many people face an “attention-deficit trait” reminiscent of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). People do not have the energy or the will to pay attention to the amounts of information that they’re exposed to.
So the next time your friend doesn’t immediately respond to your text message about hanging out, I’d suggest cutting them some slack.
