Westerners are bombarded with information every minute of every day. Much of it goes by and isn’t absorbed, much of it is taken in and stored for later, some of it is immediately processed and used, but taken in total it is more than we can use and is a significant cause of stress. What can we do about it?

The easiest intervention is to simply turn it off. Do you listen to the radio during your commute? Try silence, or if you can’t tolerate the silence try listening to recorded music without commercials – but work toward silence, because even music is information. Are you in the habit of having the television or radio running in the background when you are at home, even if you think you aren’t paying attention to it? The truth is that you are paying attention to it, even if you think you are doing something else. The more we move toward doing one thing at a time and eliminating background noise, the better off we will be.

At first, you may feel a bit uncomfortable with the reduced stimulation. That is only because you are unaccustomed to it. In fact, our central nervous systems are operating on overload. While it’s true that reducing unnecessary stimulation will make us more efficient, the most important reason to work toward it is that it will positively impact our health and our relationships.