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Methods and tips on mindfully pruning of information intake
I'm working on pruning the sources of information that come into my Readwise/Read Later feeds down based on usefulness/actionable in my life and quality. My priorities are for data sources to expand my 'reality tunnel', to provide unique insights (not an echo chamber), and to remove a lot of the 'noise' of the day-to-day information overload. I'm considering what those sources might be. If you have a moment, I'd appreciate your thoughts, advice, and links to any writings or videos that speak to this similar goal and how others have done it. Thanks in advance!
Nick Milo said:
The noise is deafening, but I promise to focus on the high-value signal.
I'm seeking to reduce the noise, and increase the signal of my Reader feeds.
A user here tipped me to News Minimalist, which I've been liking. True to the name, it's as bare-bones as bare bones can be, but it is also exactly what I want from a news aggregator: it's basically an AP ticker curated by ChatGPT, filtered by a significance score.
I can quickly scroll thru the headlines to see if there's anything truly new, and easily ignore anything I've already read/don't care to read.
The best part? No photos, videos or ads; and absolutely no tabloid & celebrity junk news. I don't struggle to not click on that stuff on other sites, but I still react negatively to seeing it, period, and it's better for my mental health if I just don't.
Thanks. I use News Minimalist daily, and find it perfect to summarize daily news. I’m looking for good sources of more timeless and general insights and perspectives on the world and self development.
I don't actually think there's a problem with having a "little too much" when it comes to data sets or news sources for stuff you are interested in.
It's something I have to be careful of myself as I've got adhd and I am prone to rabbit holing if I'm not careful.
My biggest takeaway? Don't do digital. Grab yourself newspapers or magazines if you can. I'm a big fan of all things science, so I'll grab NewScientist, National Geo and that kind of thing to read on the couch. I've got a subscription to the Guardian as well, albeit digital.
It's not about being perfectly fair and balanced. If I wanted to see what the "other side" is writing, then I can. But I can safely assume that it's usually a shit show of malicious acting and vindictive self-absorption that I just can't tolerate reading anymore (Express, The Daily Mail, The Times) because it just ruins my mental health.
It's also about time boxing yourself. I'll give the Guardian a read in the morning for ten minutes and then again in the evening. That's it. Many of the things that go on in the world are interesting to know, but you can take so few an action on them that it's not worth burning yourself out over.
Since I don’t do social media and have quit Reddit, with Tildes being my only casual general chat forum, I’ve vastly reduced the noise of useless information in my life. For actual news, I have Apple News (paid subscription, Apple One), which you can curate to your liking with all the major news sources. They also have tons of magazines included, the Atlantic, the New Yorker, National Geographic… Linux Format (!) and a bunch more. I’ve been slowly getting into reading articles again instead of just headlines and snarky comments. I’m not missing out on any major news stories, and yet I’m absorbing much less news simply by not being on Reddit. It’s great.
Thanks. I’m already narrowing News to a daily newsletter like 1440 and News Minimalist.
I’m looking for quality sources outside news for new perspectives and insights.