Tips To Avoid Becoming Overwhelmed Online
As a busy parent, you always have problems that need solving. Whether it’s work-related, a parenting issue, some marriage advice, a recipe, or how to fix this or clean that. You begin by innocently researching solutions online to the problems you are facing.
Though, have you ever felt like the more you go searching online for answers to your problems, the more you end up doing nothing about them? It’s a crazy cycle, but one that is all too often the reality. It is not something that one can even help with most of the time because the world has changed so much that we are all plugged in some way or another.
This was happening to me a lot at one time as I tried to find answers online for becoming more productive, yet I was spending too much time being unproductive. I had good intentions of finding solutions on the web, but when I did find answers, I would not implement them. How come? Because I had online overwhelm.
How Do You Get Online Overwhelm?
You feel the need to solve a problem you are facing.
You have good intentions and start researching solutions online.
You find numerous solutions that lead you to research deeper to find which answer is better.
One thing leads to another, and you end up with 10+ tabs open on your browser and you’re stressed out by all the choices!
You begin feeling your head spinning and your thoughts are exploding.
You start feeling confused and hopeless because you don’t know what to do first.
You feel more overwhelmed than before because you have extra information to sift through.
Your problem just got a whole lot bigger and you end up overwhelmed and do nothing about your problem.
That is exactly what I went through. Some of it is derived from the internet becoming an information superhighway, but most of it is derived from not using the internet wisely or taking responsibility for your time when using it. If you do not maintain control over your online habits, you can end up overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information available.
How can you avoid becoming overwhelmed by all this information? The methods are simple, but it takes willpower to implement it because it’s all about disciplining yourself.
12 Tips To Try If You’re Experiencing Online Overwhelm
Limit Your social media – you don’t need to be on every network.
Follow only the websites you love – you don’t need to read about everything that’s going on.
Limit your online support groups – there’s just so much advice you can take.
Stay the course and focus – don’t get distracted by other problems when you start researching one problem.
Use online bookmarks – that’s why they were invented for you to keep it for later.
Have fewer email accounts. Ask yourself, why you even have more than 3 email accounts?
Stop going online for everything – you can find answers to issues the old fashioned way – family and friends are great information portals.
Skim content – you don’t need to read about stuff you already know, skim to the parts of an article that matter.
Lose the guilt of being everyone’s friend online – you cannot maintain friendships that have passed, move on with the times and your life.
Write things down in a planner – this is still the best way to get things done no matter how smart your smartphone is.
Take time away to energize – sometimes you just need to unplug.
I stopped thinking that I am missing out on something when I don’t go online or visit social networks. I may hear about something later than others, but so what? You can reduce your online overwhelm greatly when you see the internet for what it is – useful, but not overtaking your life as a busy mom.
As technology becomes more advanced, the information available at our fingertips will get more intense. That’s why it is important to discipline ourselves to maintain control over it. Once we are in control of how and when we use technology, will the benefit out-way the time draining factor it has on our lives.
Salam, I’m Zakeeya!
I believe that making our homes a safe haven for our families, as well as being a wife and mother, brings us great blessings, contentment, and benefits to society as a whole. Since 2011, I've been dedicated to assisting Muslimas in finding tranquility in their roles, taking better care of themselves, and achieving inner peace. Our journey in this world is not an easy one, but I pray the tools and guidance I offer will help you face life's challenges with more gratitude and mindfulness. Join me as I share wifehood, motherhood, homemaking, and lifestyle solutions that make life more fulfilling for you as a woman! Read more about me here.
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