Dear reader,
The short version: A 30-day challenge to stop learning, watching, and listening to information (even the ones that seem useful)
The long version with more details:
I have a problem (actually more than one).
Even though, over the years, I’ve been able to reduce my time spent scrolling on social media, I’ve realized that there are other, bigger problems.
Problem 1: Uncertainty
As some of you may know, I’m an international student currently living in the US. You might have already heard of how quickly and aggressively the Trump administration has been doing things. I will not get into whether or not their decisions are right because it is mostly subjective. However, some of those decisions affect international students like me directly. So I’ve had this urge to keep up with what’s going on.
Problem 2: Just-in-case knowledge
When I began saving time by cutting down my social media usage, I started learning. Most of what I learned are things that I might need at some point in the future. Even though the information is irrelevant to me at present, its “might be useful” nature seems appealing. And learning these things takes time.
Problem 3: Productive procrastination
I’ve been reading more books than I ever have in the past. I’ve been taking some courses too. But the problem is that none of these things are helping me make progress on my immediate or yearly goals. When I’m not wasting time by scrolling, I assume I’m being productive, but I’m not really. Because the results I’m seeking are not being helped by the information I’m consuming. I talked more about this a few weeks ago.
Problem 4: Brain Fog
I realized that it isn’t just mindless scrolling that makes you feel numb, it’s also learning the things that you don’t need. Watching videos on building systems or optimizing something seems useful but if you don’t use it, it’s useless. And we can’t realistically use all that knowledge we learn.
Problem 5: Mental Masturbation
Mental masturbation is the act of engaging in useless yet intellectually stimulating conversation, usually as an excuse to avoid taking constructive action in your life. This is not just conversations, it’s prevalent in every aspect of my life. I can read, watch, think, imagine and look forward to all the good things of the future, but that doesn’t bring action in the present.
The Low Information Diet (LID) Challenge
I had, once upon a time, watched Tim Ferriss briefly talk about the Low Information Diet in a video. In the moment, it made sense, I cut down some consumption and moved on.
I’ve realized doing this aggressively might actually be more useful than I initially thought.
So for the next 30 days (until April 21, 2025), I’ll be implementing the low-information diet. If you’re interested, you can join me in this challenge by responding to this via comment/email.
Here are the rules:
- An immediate one-month media fast: no social media scrolling, news, magazines, audiobooks, podcasts, or talk radio. Music is allowed at all times. You get one hour of TV (pleasure viewing) and one hour of fiction/non-fiction (pleasure reading) before bed.
- No phone 30 minutes before and after bed.
- Start asking yourself, “Will I definitely use this information for something immediate and important?” Focus on “just in time” vs. “just in case” information.
- “Practice the art of non finishing.” Just because something is worth starting, doesn’t mean it’s necessarily worth finishing. Quit things that aren’t moving you toward your goals.
If you’re reading this and thinking, “I can’t possibly do that, I need to keep up with the news/post on Instagram/maintain my Snapchat streak” remember that this exercise is supposed to challenge your assumptions. Are those activities really as vital to your life or your business as you think they are? I challenge you to try the LID for a week/month and find out.
I am going to attempt the 30-day challenge myself and I’ll update you on how it goes at the end of the challenge.
I’ll see you next week.
Warmly,
Suraj
