What is information anxiety? Why do modern people have information anxiety?

The processing of information should follow this principle: give priority to me and use it for me. Only what you are interested in, concerned about and needed is truly valuable. Similarly, the mission of information can only be completed if it is used by itself and re-examined, optimized and improved in application. The following is a complete list of reasons I have compiled for you. Let's have a look!

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This set of rules will cure your information anxiety.

Text/rachel

In this era, the problem that bothers us most is not lack of information, but information overload.

Think about your daily life:

When you open any APP or website, there will always be overwhelming "guess what you like", "smart recommendation" and "everyone is watching";

Brush a circle of friends, often can't stop until the last one;

Needless to say, when actively searching for information, you click on the links one by one, and dozens of tabs are opened in a blink of an eye. It takes a long time to realize that time has passed.

All Internet products are doing one thing: constantly "washing" your nerves with a lot of fragmented information, making you feel fresh and happy.

They try their best to keep you, just for your time and attention.

So, how to avoid falling into these information black holes?

Many people ask me: you have always stressed the harm of fragmented learning. Does it mean to avoid all fragmented information and learn completely through reading?

Of course not.

This is actually a common misunderstanding: fragmented learning is not equal to fragmented information.

The latter is the attribute of information, and the former is the attitude of learning.

To put it simply: the examples mentioned above are fragmented information, but that doesn't mean they are worthless. Compared with reading, they may not be deep enough, but they are more diverse, instant and rich.

In this society, information is competitiveness. Making good use of them will bring great competitive advantage.

What's the point? It depends on how you absorb and use them: whether you are attracted piecemeal, disorderly and involuntarily, or whether you always know "what I want" and connect them in series with a main thread and bring them into your own system.

That's all that matters.

So, how can we make better use of this information and give full play to its value?

Today, I share a method "43 1 rule" for managing information by myself. I hope it will be useful to you.

As mentioned above, we are surrounded by a lot of information every day.

Just "touching" this information may make you feel overwhelmed, let alone absorbing, storing and applying it. It may even be difficult for you to do "what should I pay attention to".

So the most important thing is to classify information and then manage it according to different classifications.

I will divide the information into four categories according to the two dimensions of interest and systematicness:

1) noise

I call boring and fragmentary information "noise".

What does this "noise" include? Hot events, current affairs reviews, social dynamics, star dynamics, all kinds of unknown sources and hearsay information are flooding our circle of friends, Weibo, various news apps and daily chats.

This kind of information has the smallest value but the largest proportion. In daily life, more than 70% of information belongs to "noise".

What should I do with this information?

Don't look

I basically don't watch the news and pay attention to any hot spots. The reason is simple: I will know the really important information sooner or later, and I am in no hurry. Isn't it more meaningful to have this time to pay attention to what I am more interested in?

Our attention and cognitive resources are extremely limited. If all these "noises" are occupied, where is the extra space left for really important thinking?

Many people often feel tired and overloaded with information. In fact, the biggest reason is that they can't give up these "noises". Their brains are full of these noises, so that they can't process other information and think about other things.

Therefore, the first step of information management is to learn to "discard" and filter out these noises so that they will not interfere with your brain.

In this process, you may face two enemies, one is called "need in the future" and the other is called "everyone is talking".

In fact, if you think about it, you will understand how much information you hoard will really come in handy in the future. These bits and pieces of information that have nothing to do with your life and are unsystematic are not easy for you to find again after a period of time, let alone use them.

How many things are buried in the comfort of "may be useful" and "will be used later", quietly consuming your control and living space?

The latter is the same.

Trying to integrate into the circle and keep up with a certain "trend" by "talking about capital" is actually a false demand. Whether you can really be accepted by the circle depends on what value you can provide them, not on daily chat and communication.

Doing things well and letting others rely on you is much more important than having something to say.

2) Information

I will have many by-products in my daily reading and learning process.

What by-product? For me, it is mainly these three categories:

Case: the story of a famous person, the case of a company, a psychological experiment and so on. It's not my concern, but it's very systematic and detailed, and it's rare.

Experience: some "How to" contents, such as travel guides and operation guides, are useful tools that are not needed for a short time.

Document: a document written by others about a certain knowledge field. The most typical ones are industry and research reports. I'm not interested, but it takes a lot of time and energy to organize myself.

What these messages have in common is that they are of little use to me in a short time, but they are organized, very systematic and detailed. It would be a pity to filter it out as noise.

I call this information with low interest and high systematicness "data".

How to handle "data"? What I do is: I don't save the data itself, because the cost is too high, but I save it in the form of "keyword+hook".

Keywords describe the content, value and possible use of "materials", while hooks tell me where to find them when I need them.

If I read the information on the Internet, I will open a new page in my notes, simply write down a few key words, then leave a link and simply write down the operation instructions.

What you see in a book, just open a new page of notes and write down which book it is and how many pages it is. Just look it up in the e-book when you use it in the future.

If it is physical content, such as paper books and magazines, take photos, throw them into your computer, save them in a folder or Onenote, and write down detailed links.

In this way, when necessary, you can see the description of these materials by searching for keywords in the note-taking tool. Next, follow the map step by step.

In this process, the most important thing is to constantly "trace back to the source", find the original source of data, and constantly expand your own information base.

For example, when I read a case in a book, I will not just write it down, but look at its references (if any) to find out: Where did the author get this case? Is it from your own personal visit or from other places?

Similarly, when I see a report or chart on the Internet, I will not just write it down, but look for its source (usually marked), or find the original source of this chart by searching for pictures and try the whole process myself.

In this way, you can change the simple "recording information" into "expanding channels" and constantly improve your ability to collect and obtain information.

Step 3: Ideas

This is a bright spot. Apart from "noise", it is also the most frequently contacted information every day.

I call those bits and pieces of information that interest me and are not systematic "ideas".

Why is it called "idea" instead of "data" and "information"? It's simple: any data I'm interested in will definitely not stay in the "record", but will involve my thinking.

In the end, it is often not what it is, but what it looks like after thinking interaction, expansion and rewriting.

For example:

When I read some interesting data, I don't stop at "memories", but ask myself:

What does this data show? What data do I need to get the results? Where can I get these data?

In a word, what I record is not the data itself, but my thinking process and the possibility of interpreting it from the data.

Similarly, if you look through my reading notes, you will find that these notes have nothing to do with the contents of the book, and most of them are my thoughts and efforts.

For example, I saw an interview with a designer a few days ago and read an opinion, which was very interesting. At this time, I will think:

What knowledge points can you contact? How to apply it in life? What article can it be used in?

It is the latter that is recorded in my notes, not the idea itself.

In short, the most important thing is to constantly improve your perspective and examine information from a higher level: what is its context? What does this mean? What can it launch? What role can it play? Wait a minute.

Only in this way can they play their real value.

4. Method

Finally, the fourth part: interesting and systematic information, which I call "method".

There are basically two kinds of information.

The first is a method that can be directly operated and practiced, such as a software application, a thinking mode and framework, an effective skill and so on.

There are not many opportunities to encounter this kind of information. Once found, I will arrange time to apply it, then observe it all the time, write down the problems and areas that can be optimized, and keep feedback and iteration.

Repeat it over and over again until you can skillfully use it, and you can internalize this "method" into your own skills.

The second is to sublimate from "ideas" to projects and tasks. This is also a "method".

This need is combined with "data" and unified by theme.

For example, if I see a scenic spot in Thailand on the Internet and I am particularly interested, I will write it down, then look at my itinerary and consider: Do you want to arrange a trip this year?

At this time, it is an idea.

If I decide to travel, I will search for keywords such as "Thailand" and "travel" in my notebook software and find a lot of "materials" accumulated before, including other people's travel notes, strategies, tour routes, recommended hotels and restaurants, as well as various tips to pay attention to when traveling, things to take on the plane and so on.

Next, open a new page of notes, sort out these materials and sort out the whole trip: what to bring, where to go, how to prepare, what details to pay attention to and so on.

At this time, it rose from "idea" to "method".

Then, when I am ready to travel, as long as I open the note-taking tool and focus on this page, I can control all the precautions of the whole trip and avoid any omissions and omissions.

Not only that, this note can also be my experience, shared with my friend, and become his "information" for planning his trip. Similarly, in my next trip, I can optimize the whole travel arrangement by reviewing and checking this note.

Of course, there is no need to "travel" such a big theme. In daily life, many things can actually be transformed into "methods" to implement and practice.

For example:

Starting from a data, infer and think about industry trends; From one angle, write an article to demonstrate an argument; Starting from a skill, extending and supplementing it into a methodology to optimize your own workflow; Starting from a model, create various problems and opportunities in life, put this model into practice, then find problems and difficulties, ask others for advice, search for information, and improve the mastery of this model;

These can all be "methods".

It is the ultimate destination of "data" and "ideas", and it is also the way to really use notes and knowledge.

What I said earlier is the four categories of daily information.

So, after classification, what methods can help us process information?

What are the basic principles to follow when managing information?

I classify them into the following three types.

1) Lenovo

You will find that whether it is divergent thinking, expansion and perfection of "ideas" or theme arrangement of "methods", the core point is association.

In other words, link a piece of information with other related information.

Many times, a single piece of information itself can't see anything, but when a large number of related information are gathered, new information trends, conclusions, ideas and so on will be constructed.

This is actually the "emergence" in system theory: a large number of parts can be combined into a whole to emerge. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

This process of connecting scattered points, building a network and giving wholeness is actually the process of realizing breakthroughs and transitions in one's own knowledge system.

This is what we call "cognitive upgrading".

So, how to better associate it?

The first method is top-down thinking: what do I have and what do I need?

This requires accumulating a large number of thinking models and thinking frames, always putting the information and ideas in your hands into the frame to examine, and then thinking: What information do I need? How do I get this information? Constantly improve this framework.

The second method is bottom-up. In the form of keywords and labels, reserve every piece of information and idea, and when the time is right, connect them in series to unify their views on the same topic and build a "method".

The key words have been mentioned before. What is a label? Tags can be understood as "bigger keywords", usually intellectual training camps, deep growth camps and other projects. I will label all the information related to them, and then organize, think and analyze it regularly, integrate these fragmentary information and think about how to apply it to the project.

In short: keywords are diverse, uncertain and subdivided; Labels are specific, project-specific and high-level.

Through "association", the information flow is constantly moving, and the value of information can be exerted.

2) Assumption

Some friends may ask: in many cases, the information in hand may not be complete, and you may not be able to see anything from it. What should I do?

At this time, it is necessary to make a "hypothesis".

Hypothesis is the best method of inquiry learning, and it is also the essence of connecting "description" and "meaning". What should you do if you don't know what this information means? Try to make a bold hypothesis, and then search the surrounding information to test your hypothesis.

Why do many people read a lot of books and still can't come up with their own opinions? Many times, it's because they just passively "input" and don't really turn input into output, linking what they have learned with reality.

The middle bridge is actually a "hypothesis".

For example, many books will tell you about principles, laws and effects. Then, when you observe a certain phenomenon in your daily life, can you boldly assume that this phenomenon is related to a certain principle? Then around this hypothesis, further data collection, research, and test its correctness.

If this hypothesis is proved to be tenable, then what you have learned is really useful, not the accumulated useless information.

Of course, we are not professional researchers, so we cannot obtain accurate and sufficient first-hand data. Many times, we can only rely on various facts and explanations to reason and demonstrate our "hypothesis". They are more about the comprehensive analysis of second-hand information than the creation of new knowledge.

But even so, it is much better than one-way input.

3) Search

The last method is to turn passivity into initiative and search for the information we need.

Search is an indispensable ability, whether it is to complete the puzzle in association or to further test and confirm the hypothesis.

About search, everyone basically understands, not much to say. Share some precautions:

(1) Multi-keyword, cross search. It is often difficult for a single keyword to get the results we want. At this time, we might as well try more keywords, indirectly describe the object to be searched, start with some peripheral clues, and approach the search results.

(2) Professional platform "search" does not mean that only search engines can be used. More often, using professional platforms can achieve goals more effectively. For example, Google academic, report library, online library, various industry databases and so on. Usually accumulate more information base, which will be more efficient to use.

(3) Thirdly, there are huge "structural loopholes" in China's information network. Many things can be searched in English, and more authoritative and effective results can be obtained.

Finally, the basic principles of information management.

Having said so much, it is actually that sentence: give priority to me and use it for me.

Only what you are interested in, concerned about and needed is truly valuable. Similarly, the mission of information can only be completed if it is used by itself and re-examined, optimized and improved in application.

If you can't do these two things, information is just meaningless hoarding for you.

Review "43 1 rule" again:

Four categories: noise, data, ideas and methods. Three strategies: association, hypothesis and search. Rule 1: Give priority to me and use it for me.

I hope this set of methods can help you to make your mind clearer and really make good use of information in the complicated information explosion era.

In an uncontrollable era, make everything more controllable.