S9E25: 5 tips to avoid information overload

Hello beautiful survivors, how are you? This is Karina, the host and creator of the Stop 2 podcast Stroke Surviving the Odds. This show is all about moving forward past the events of the stroke and I want to show you that there is so much more life to live after. 27 years ago, I suffered a brain stem dissection that led me to coma Interlochen syndrome. But as you can see, I'm here today sharing all my tricks, hacks and how to's how I got to survive this world as a stroke survivor myself.

Please grab a pen and paper because the fintus of ink is better than the best memory. We are going to be starting today's episode. Today's episode is all about how to avoid information overload. We'll talk about it in a minute, but before we commence, I would like to do a little bit of clean house. If it's OK with you, I like to remind that you can follow like and subscribe on any and all platforms that you're listening to your show.

And I'm a very big believer in paying it forward. So it's very important that you share the podcast with people, share it with the world, share with Sugar Bear. That way the algorithm and the world knows that stroke survivors everywhere are uniting and we're supporting each other and there is help out there. I want to also remind you that you can download the episode, sit back, relax, listen to the words today, see how your brain is working with what I'm saying and how it applies to your own life, all because you've downloaded the episode. When you download it, then you can sit down, write all the rhetorical questions that I will ask you along the way, things that are going to make you build

your awareness and be that more insightful along the show. I always ask some questions. I really want to make you think. I want to make you feel. And if I'm missing the mark or if you would like me to talk about something in particular, make sure that you let me know. But for right now, make sure that you download the episode so you can listen to it as you're recuperating. And what do you think would get the show on the road before we officially start?

Guys, I have a couple of companions here next to me. So if you hear some sounds, you might be hearing a tweety bird behind me. That's my Yoko. I am bird sitting for my cousin. So Yoko is a parrot and I have, I'm signed my dog who's very vocal and you're bound to hear him at some point during the show.

So don't be afraid. He likes belly rubs. Just put your hand out and let him come to you. All right, Well, you know what? Seems like everybody has something to say about everything, don't you find? I mean, hey, I'm not any different. I always have something to say, but at the same time, I know when to shut up. But there is so much information out there, guys. I mean, we are bombarded as amazing as our century is, as amazing as all this beautiful AI technology is, and I mean IBM and the computers and the net and everything just change. Catapulted the whole wild world how everything happens. But we are just so saturated with information. And as a stroke survivor, well, we're saturated with information of the whole world, but also

information on how people think we should be doing. Family and friends. Everybody has an opinion. You should be doing better. You should be walking faster. You should be able to tie your shoes by now. You could be, You should be talking, you should, you should, you should. Who says you should? Other people? My question is, what do you think? How do you feel with all this hoopla in the world of all this TV, radio, podcasts, books, audio books, advertising on the bus lines, advertising on the side of the buses, on the side of the benches.

There's just so much. And again, as stroke survivors, it can get very overwhelming inside of our bodies. I know for me, that's how it is. I, I still sometimes get tense and get, there's just too much stimulation around. I think information overload goes in our brain and at some point it sort of creates a short circuit.

That's the only way I can describe it. Imagine our computers, we're putting stuff on our computers and we never clean it. Well, what couple of things. I'm not very techy, but I do know that if you don't clean the computer, you're not going to have storage, you're not going to be able to do your downloads, you're not going to be able to put your important documents. I know it's happened to me.

A friend of mine had to teach me that I needed to clean my computer because for some reason I thought it was infinite years ago. I thought I could just infinitely add to it, an add an add. Well, turns out that it's not the case. So when you have all this information overload, this stimulation overload, how does it make you feel?

How does your body react when it sees that? Maybe at the beginning it's exciting, it's exhilarating, it's new, it's, I don't know how to describe it. If you could see my face right now, it's really, it's, it's a beautiful thing, but at the same time it's exhausting. And my body, when I go through what I have to go through my, my head just wants to explode. My neck.

I'm, I'm moving it from side to side. It's like I want to have a massage in the bottom of my neck sometimes. I remember the first time I felt this when COVID hit, there was news and CNN and everywhere you went there was news on TV and at home there was news on TV and it was just too much. And I started feeling like the inside of my body felt like a, like I had an earthquake inside.

Has that ever happened to you? I think that when it comes to stroke survivors, other people give us great advice, great opinions, but it's also great for you to get to choose what you want to listen to or follow through or do period in your life. Some people tend to have all this information and they throw it down, you shove it down your throat and there's expectations that come with that.

And when there's expectations, there's often disappointment. And you don't need more disappointment As a stroke survivor, you definitely don't. We don't and some information out there, some people impose it. I heard that this was said at the doctor's or I read this in a book. You should do it. The word should implies that it's an order.

Unwillingly maybe, but the word should sounds like an order. And you should not do anything that you don't want to do. You should not listen to what you don't want to listen to. That's why during my shows I always say use what I say with a grain of salt. Use what I say and put it in context to your personal life. Now I can I have an opinion.

I told you at the beginning, we all have an opinion and it's cool because when we have a podcast, we get to get the opinion out there. But at the end of the day, you, the listener is the one who decides what you want to really listen to. Try learn. I know that for myself, when I take the bus, there's always these, these advertisement, but more towards the ceiling.

And I'm there and I read and some of the stuff is really good. I've taken some pictures of links or of the QR codes because it's something that could benefit me. You see, when there's information overload, there's a ton of choice. And I only discovered this after I had the stroke, by the way, that I, Karina, don't like choice.

I like to choose, but I don't like to have too many choices. You could always, let's say I want to buy a dress. Well, I could buy that dress. I could buy that dress. I could buy a short dress, I could buy one wood pockets. I could buy a long dress along with frilly. I mean, there's just too much. So my personal thing is that when there's information overload, when there's overstimulation, when you just don't know what the truth, it's easy. I pick three and out of the three I start eliminating and I'm not afraid of voicing out to whomever is there, whomever is providing the service information, who is providing the choices, I will voice to them. Don't give me too much choices.

Same thing when I had to go buy my washing machine. I mean, damn, back in the day, there was only one type of washing machine. It washed the clothes. Now you have a gazillion when you go to the appliance store. Ming. There's so much out there. It's like I need something not fancy, something that's going to do the job. It might have a couple of bells and whistles, but populist hassle, very basic.

And I'm happy with that. And I carried this through because I know there's a lot of information. You guys also know that I've worked in sales and I carried this through in my sales business when I would work in fragrances. I mean, everything smells good at the end of the day, unless something makes you nauseous, but smelling good and wanting to buy it and wear it every day is one thing. I mean, it's two things.

It's two things. So I, I do elimination. How do you deal with so many choices out there? That's your other question that I'm asking. How do you particularly deal with all the choices out there? Do you find that you're capable to voice your opinion to family and friends? Also, I'll give you a story and I know you guys know this not I know you've heard this.

As a new mom, everybody has an opinion on not how you should raise the child, but how you should take care of the baby. But at the end of the day, you choose how you want to take care of your baby. But everybody has an opinion on what to do with the baby. So I mean, it's awesome to get advice to get, hey, try this. That's one thing.

But when you yeah, you should do this, there's that should again, that implies that you're obligated to do it. And I want to create a little parenthesis with you guys when you say I should clean my closet, I should be clutter my shoes. I should clean the garage. The should for you wanting to do something, wanting to be proactive and wanting to do something should become a will.

I will. You see, should to me is somewhat of a negative because you could or could not do it. You sure or should not it, it ends up being the same. But if you say I will do it it, it implies that you're going to be taking action. You didn't give me a time frame. You didn't give yourself a time frame, but you are going to do it. It shall be done.

That's just a little parenthesis on a little bit of self talk along the way. What I'm going to do next is provide you a couple of tips on how to avoid that information overload, information stimulation overload. What do you think about that? I'll be right back. You know, guys, when it comes to your survival, when it comes to your recuperation, you are your best advocate.

I will never say this too much. Other people, meanwhile, they really do, they have the best intention. And when I say other people, I mean are families and friends. But sometimes the delivery of that intention of that information is a little too rough and tough. But today I hope that you've learnt that you can control what you think is right and what you need to do.

You have that control back. Like I mentioned before, I am going to give you now 5 tips on how to avoid information overload. The first one is to get two or three different trusted sources of information where you don't have that hassle of wondering if it's true. Example, CNN is good and Trump says that Fox News is not good, it's fake news. Can you make up your mind?

You decide two or three different sources. The second thing, maybe set yourself a boundary on that information, meaning a boundary on how much time you might spend on social media or on your newspaper, on your phone. Apparently people don't buy newspapers anymore. They have it on the phone. How much time you consume all this information, that's going to avoid the overload.

Set a boundary. My third tip, it's called Just in Time. Sometimes we seek information out there just in case. That's kind of like collecting clutter around the house just in case you need it. But if you collect information when you need it, you get the answer and then you move on. There's no clutter of information to be had. If you are someone that likes to collect information, there's nothing wrong with that.

In that case, set yourself some folders where you can keep everything in categories with bookmarks. There's these amazing applications where we can take notes of important stuff. That way your brain is not going to become overloaded and overtired Does. Don't forget, you're a stroke survivor. You have a lot of things to remember, one of which is probably standing. Hell, I'm 27 years down the road and I still need to learn how to properly stand.

Can you believe it? Last but not least, maybe take a little digital detox. That will be #5 yeah, it's OK to take a time off when your phone is out of juice, out of battery, and you're not panicking and you're actually enjoy, purposely enjoy that silence of no notification, no nothing. And of course, make sure you have what you need when you go away. But think about it, if you're going on vacation or you're going away fishing at or or hunting, you have none of this digital stuff.

You put your priorities somewhere else and you come back and you're totally, totally rejuvenated. So think about that. All this being said is what I've got for you guys today. I hope you enjoy. Make sure you like follow and subscribe. You download the episode, you follow me on the stroke, surviving the odds, the podcast on Facebook, and I'm going to provide you all the different links that you can get in touch with me. I love you immensely and you've got this man. Just don't overstimulate yourself. Bye.

S9E25: 5 tips to avoid information overload

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