Surviving the Age of Information Overload
Systems are great until they aren't. I didn’t realize how deep my FOMO went until I created an entire digital universe just to save things I’d never actually read or use.
For years, I feared that the next great idea, the one breakthrough that could change my business or my life, was hidden in an email, a video, a podcast, or a LinkedIn post I had not yet seen or heard.
So I built what I thought was the perfect system:
A redesigned Notion with 25 sections to save my research
A “Save for Later” inbox folder that accumulated over 1,000 emails
More than 100 podcasts waiting in my queue
YouTube playlists for every business topic
Hundreds of newsletters labeled and sorted
If something looked remotely useful, I saved it.
If something could be useful one day, I saved it.
My digital world became a library of “I’ll get to this someday.”
And the crazy part?
The system gave me the sense that I was learning and getting things done.
At the time, it seemed like a safeguard from missing out on the knowledge everyone else seemed to have.
In reality, the opposite was true.
😟 The Breaking Point
One morning, I opened my inbox and realized I had saved 147 things in the last 24 hours.
Not read.
Not watched.
Not listened to…
Just saved.
My “future self” was drowning in the homework my present self kept assigning.
Then it hit me…
I wasn’t afraid of missing information.
I feared the missed potential.
The ideas, insights, and opportunities that might never reach me.
Lost forever (or so it seemed).
Somewhere along the way, “learning” turned into hoarding.
I was building a digital wall of content so tall that it was blocking my own clarity.
Something had to change.
👉 The Shift
I didn’t fix it overnight.
But I did make one change that changed everything.
I replaced the FOMO mindset with FOLE (Fear of Lost Energy).
If something drained my attention, cluttered my brain, or required more energy than it was worth, it didn’t get saved.
I created new rules:
If an email doesn’t give value in 10 seconds, delete.
If a video doesn’t teach something in the first minute, close.
If a post needs more than two scrolls, skip.
If a resource isn’t actionable in this season of my life, archive it.
I simplified my Notion.
I collapsed my YouTube folders.
I emptied entire “read later” email folders without guilt.
And for the first time in years, I felt lighter.
Problem solved.
Or so I thought.
🔊 Fighting The Noise
Okay, so I set up a new system to organize my strategic thoughts, new content, and valuable information.
I’m all set… right?
Not quite.
Today’s professionals face a new reality…
AI noise and widespread false information.
All the AI tools, emails, and social feeds produce … slop.
Content that looks credible can be incomplete, biased, or just plain wrong.
And now, it comes in two forms:
Misinformation – incorrect or misleading information shared without ill intent.
Disinformation – information that is deliberately false, created to mislead.
The more I saved, the more exposed I became to AI-generated slop, rumors, exaggerated claims, and outright lies disguised as insight.
Every “must-read” article, every viral video, every LinkedIn post had the potential to waste hours, or worse, steer my thinking in the wrong direction.
My FOLE-driven systems were not feeding clarity, but confusion.
Ugh!
It was then that I realized that I don’t just need more curated information.
I needed better filters, stronger networks, and smarter systems.
If I could master my attention, I’d master my opportunities.
As we move into the New Year, a focus should be on building an information management system that brings clarity, not chaos.
A system that streamlines timely and valuable information while filtering out the noise and useless content that has become so rampant.
Easier said than done.
But a great goal for 2026!
✅ The Takeaway
The amount of content being created each year isn’t doubling … it’s compounding.
AI has lowered the cost of publishing to nearly zero. Everyone is now a creator. And every platform is fighting to keep your attention.
A typical business leader now receives:
121+ emails per day
Dozens of Slack/Teams messages
A nonstop stream of updates across social feeds
AI summaries, alerts, reports, and “must-reads.”
No human brain was built for this kind of consumption.
Information overload does not come from how much exists. It comes from how responsible we feel and how willing we are to separate the valuable from the noise, the true from the false.
Today, I focus on learning the right things. The things that connect to who I am. The things that matter right now. The things that move me forward.
And for the first time in a long time, learning feels exciting instead of exhausting.
I stopped trying to learn everything.
Now I focus on learning the right things.
The things that connect to who I am, where I’m going, and what actually matters most to me.
And ironically?
Once I stopped saving everything, I finally had the space to start learning again.
Have a great rest of the week!
- Mike
Great post, Mike! You really articulated something I've been doing and experiencing for, I'm embarrassed to say, years. I'm going to add this post to my read later file. :)
Amazing!!!