Info-xication: No-no during this pandemic

We are inundated with so much information about this pandemic that we find ourselves overloaded and trapped. Television, radio, social media, and even the people around you share the news about the pandemic that you do not know how to handle all the pieces of information you are hearing and reading. Not only that, but you also receive details about updates regarding the plan of the government to open up the province. Facts about the number of cases the country has and how many has recovered. Too many signs all over even at work, I get sign fatigued already. Too many daily changes about what to do and not to do. It is too much. Information overload is what other people call it. Wikipedia defines it as " is the difficulty in understanding an issue and effectively making decisions when one has too much information about that issue." An excessive amount of information is not healthy and can lead to stress. Moreover, it can branch out to so many other issues such as conspiracy theory, violence, misunderstanding, dissemination of wrong information, and conflict. During this time, the last thing we want to do is create chaos within ourselves and to others. We wanted to be able to find a niche where we can share information and ideas without hurting each other's feelings or causing confusion.

Be offline. Connect with family and friends. Go out enjoy the sun but practice physical distancing.

But the question is, how do you survive without all the information you need? What you need is different from what you want. You only need to digest and ingest the essential. There are several reasons why we only need to keep the ones we need. It certainly will cut the time you spend online, we spend so much time online and admit it we get distracted from one post to the next post, from one comment to the next comment. We can be obsessed to the point of getting riled up. Once that information is stirred into our brain, we go ballistic and we do not know what are the crucial points we need to keep to ourselves to minimize the triggers. Let us be mindful of how much time we spend online. Have that awareness that when it is too much, we need to put down our phone. We need to close our laptops and shut the TV off. Shut that twitter feed, turn off that news notification on your phone.

The big thing for me right now is the conspiracy theory going on about COVID-19 that it was caused by 5G and that GMO is the one we should be blaming. The virus is a big plot by big-time pharmaceutical companies and that the virus escaped from a lab in China. These things are too juicy to ignore; thus the info-xication or information anxiety. It is easy to deny others what is going through the world but who wouldn't. Our world is very uncertain right now, so we turn to something appealing yet very abstruse for our little bubble. Some of us seek to make sense of this craziness and again some prefer to focus on explanations compounded by bogus claims. Although research says that it can alleviate the unpleasant feelings and provide security of knowledge to someone, it still negates that an issue exists if not, it bends the truth of the problem.

We need to give ourselves a break. We need to be offline.

Managing your news consumption is a healthy way to deal with information overload also known as info-besity. When you scan a news article, ask yourself, "Is this something I wanted I to read?" or "If I read this, will I be able to filter the details I need for myself." It is not helpful to be reading how the government is not dealing with the PPE supply shortage, how the United States is having more cases daily, and how people are not practicing physical distancing. Mishandling information can lead to misinformation. All those negativities are going to be part of the news or social media, do not add more to the hysteria and anxiety of others. It is going to be a habit that you need to start doing today or else you will be bombarded with data you do not need. There are other ways, so you will not feel trapped in all this mess of details you are getting. It is important to connect with your loved ones and see if what you read is worth keeping. Be open to suggestions. My girlfriends and siblings are pretty good at keeping me grounded. At work is crazy due to daily guidelines change and it is not fun at times especially when you are in charge of spreading the information and then the next day there is a new guideline we need to follow. My solution is deep breathing and talking it out to someone if I need a rant and a bitching session. We need to give ourselves a break. We need to be offline. The sun is shining but let us continue practicing physical distancing. You do not want a lot of information; I am sure you do not want the virus either. Be reminded that there is hope and this too shall pass.