The problem with too many inputs

It was the middle of the pandemic and I was attending a class lecture on public health. Our professor was describing a problem they must overcome when working with statistics.

She wanted us to understand, just how important quality data is. If the data is good, they can create useful conclusions. If the data is bad, so are the conclusions.

People working in public health want their results to be as good as possible, because their decisions impact the health of the entire population. The key lesson was: The quality of your inputs determines the quality of your outputs.

She used a phrase intended to make the lesson stick in our minds: Trash in, trash out.

It worked. I've remembered the lesson and the phrase ever since.

This was not the first time we've thought about the importance of the quality of information we let into our lives. But the catchy and somewhat aggressive phrase of "Trash in, trash out" stuck with me. So what were the quality inputs and what were Trash ones?

I used to spend a lot of time on Reddit. And while I did learn a lot of useful things there, mostly it was just wasted time. For every good piece of information, I probably learned 100 trash ones. With a Good:Trash ratio of 1:100, it was mostly trash in.

The news sites I visited were even worse. In his book Trust me I'm lying, Ryan Holiday writes that anger is the emotion that spreads most virally. News companies are under a lot of pressure and competition to gain readers and viewership. They need the information to spread. And the easiest, most reliable way to do that is with anger. I stopped following the news, once I realized it mostly leaves me angry, worried or distracted. That eliminated another big source of Trash in.

Soon I've cut out the vast majority of Trash inputs and replaced them with quality ones. Books, blogs and podcasts from people I consider interesting and knowledgeable. For relaxation some carefully selected YouTube channels that show the lives and projects of inspiring people.

With a lot of quality inputs and very few Trash ones, my life magically improved and everything is now blissful.

Not quite.

I do feel I'm in a better place now. The fears and anxiety are gone. The things I think about are those that actually matter to me. But given how many quality inputs I'm consuming, you would think I would be Superman by now.

The one problem that stayed is the feeling of a lack of focus.

The quality of the inputs has improved. But the quantity is just as large as before. That leaves me feeling scattered. It shatters my attention.

Tim Ferriss talks about a Low information diet in his book The Four Hour Workweek.

The idea is to focus your attention only on information you can use. Inputs should be used to fuel your immediate outputs. Otherwise the inputs are wasted*.

I've realized that my inputs are not aligned with the outputs I want to be creating. Some of them are. But not all of them. And the ones that are not, are pulling my attention away from the things I want to accomplish in this moment. It is not the right time for them.

There have been countless times when exploring random topics turned out to be very helpful. So I don't want to lose that. I enjoy reading and watching things that catch my interest in a given moment. But that does not mean it should go unchecked. There is a balance to be struck between actionable inputs and random exploration.

My current idea is this:

Limit inputs in the first half of the day. A kind of information intermittent fasting.

This would allow my thoughts to rise to the surface instead of being suppressed by inputs. Then I'll use the first half of the day for creative work and setting the direction of my life.

The second half of the day is open for inputs. Either directed ones based on a project I'm currently working on. Or random exploration into different topics that interest me in that moment. The inputs then serve as fuel for the next morning.

This is my experiment for the next couple of weeks. I'm going to limit inputs for the first six hours of the day. Then I'm going to be paying attention to my attention and see if it improves.

The key lesson for me is this - there can be too much of a good thing.

Or in the words of Paracelsus: "The dose makes the poison."

*If the goal is to change and learn. If the goal is to be entertained, then it's fine