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Clean Thoughts: Three Rules of Information Hygiene

Consuming information is just like eating junk food.

The concept of information hygiene is not new but it’s becoming popular today all over the world. The information overload we are experiencing today is enormous. We are continuously feeding our minds with huge amounts of data. It could be relevant or irrelevant data.

Consuming information is just like eating junk food. The more you eat it, the stronger the urge grows. Consuming information is fun. Today, you don’t have to go for a walk or a boat ride to feel happy and fulfilled. Consuming information inside your house is enough to make you happy. The urge to stay connected is growing rapidly every passing day.

Rule 1: Understand the meaning of continuous partial attention

Source | Report

The attention levels of most human beings have dropped drastically due to information overload. A study conducted by Linda Stone back in 1998 found out that the continuous partial attention is increasing every day. This means that most people have the ability to process information from different sources at the same time without focusing on exclusively on any of the sources.

Since the year 2000, information has been on the rise up to date. A report from essay writing service reviews states that one of the main challenges facing employees in any organization today is the abundance of information noise which can be defined as irrelevant information that sticks in the mind for a long time. In the past, the media used to sort out information and only present relevant data to consumers.

Nowadays, for the traffic and ratings to increase, media houses are sharing contaminated news which is entertaining and most importantly distracting. Your mind will multiply and give back what you feed it. If you are feeding it garbage in a consistent manner, it will give back garbage. You won’t have the ability to perform your work effectively and improve your productivity.

In most organizations based in the US and Europe, approximately 30% of working time is wasted on activities that have nothing to do with work. Employees spend a lot of time on leisure activities such as surfing the internet, reading the magazine and newspapers, going out for shopping, phone calls and replying to emails to name a few.

Employees indulge in these activities not because they are lazy or they don’t have work. They do it because of continuous partial attention which is brought about by consuming any kind of information available.

Rule 2: Information security matters

Source | Report

Information hygiene involves information security to some degree. Most of the sites being created today are trashy but entertaining to increase the number of visitors. These sites achieve this goal in a short period of time because majority of people love such kind of information.

What most people are not aware of is that these are the ideal sites to spread malware and other viruses. Social media platforms in particular are popular for spreading these viruses and cyber-attacks. Even professional experts in computer science and assignment writing service come across these dangerous links from their friends’ posts.

Hackers love crowded places. They can easily hide and do whatever they want before people notice the effects. A survey conducted by custom essay in Europe found out that about 37% of adults spend their most of their time on entertaining sites and news sites.

Hackers also love news. Why? It’s because most people love it too. We’ve recently heard about the break-ins that have been happening in the US. They could be politically driven but this demonstrates the fact that these hackers can do anything. If you don’t protect yourself adequately, you’ll be a victim very soon.

Employees who don’t think about information hygiene are threats to their organizations’ future. Consuming every kind of information available will reduce your productivity because you won’t have the ability to focus on your tasks to completion.

You’ve probably heard of the state of mind known as flow. Flow is a mental state of total focus that makes you unconscious about time. Two hours can feel like twenty minutes when you are in a state of flow. A person who is in a state of flow is much more effective and productive compared to the person who cannot focus. Focus is the key to productivity and success.

Rule 3: Solve the problem

Source | Report

So, how can we solve this problem? How can organizations make their employees more productive? The one thing you should always remember is people do things because they want to; not because they are forced to. As best dissertation recommends, organizations should take their time to teach their employees on the basics of information hygiene and security both at the workplace and at home.

Educating them on information hygiene will help them avoid dangerous entertainment sites. If they find it hard to recognize dangerous sites, there are tons of apps in the market that block malware and prevent users from visiting dangerous sites.

These apps monitor the site’s activities before allowing the user to visit or log in.  Installing these devices on the organization’s technological devices will protect the organization from cyber-attacks.

You should also take note of the sites that ask you for your personal information. Are they genuine and reputable sites? Uploading your personal information to any kind of site is similar to leaving a wallet full of money open in a public area.

Before uploading your information, read the terms and conditions carefully. Most people never go through the terms and conditions. They check all the boxes quickly and end up frustrated in the end. This should not happen to you.

Conclusion

The current information overload is driving people crazy. Information is the new drug of the 21st century. The urge to consume information every time is growing every single day. And it’s affecting the functionality and effectiveness of our brains.

Most people cannot focus on one task to its completion. The lack of focus is affecting our productivity and performance. A person who cannot focus has no future in the world.

The good side of it is people can recover and regain their focus. The only thing they have to do is to stop consuming every kind of information that comes on their way. Organizations can help their employees by educating them on the importance of information hygiene. Installing security apps and being conscious of the sites you want to visit will save you big time!

Written by Justin Osbourne

Justin is a teacher from Leicester, England, UK. When not teaching his little students and rooting for Leicester FC, he loves to share his thoughts and opinions about education, writing and blogging with other people on different blogs and forums. Currently, he is working as an editor at the writing services best essay help, college paper writing services and custom essays.

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