Information Fast

Submitted by jcheney on Mon, 08/27/2007 - 00:10.

While I was walking through a random store with my family over the weekend, I happened to pick up a book by Timothy Ferriss called "The 4-Hour Workweek". While there were some parts of it that seemed a little far fetched to me, the chapter titled the "Low Information Diet" stuck a chord with me. My life revolves heavily around information, the question being rather or not I need it.

There is a section at the end of every chapter titled 'Questions and Actions' in which Ferriss lists out questions to ask yourself or activities to reinforce what he has talked about in that particular chapter. In the Q&A for the "Low Information Diet", he proposes a five day media fast.


The world doesn't even hiccup, much less end, when you cut the information umbilical cord. To realize this, it's best to use the Band-Aid approach and do it quickly: a one-week media fast.
...
Beginning tomorrow and for at least five full days, here are the rules:
No newspapers, magazines, audiobooks, or nonmusic radio. Music is permitted at all time.
No news websites whatsoever (cnn.com, drudgereport.com, msn.com, etc).
No television at all, except for one hour of pleasure viewing each evening.
No reading books, except for this book and one hour of fiction pleasure reading prior to bed.
No web surfing at the desk unless it is necessary to complete a work task for that day. Necessary means necessary, not nice to have.

Given enough time, I will relate my success and failure stories as the week goes on, and if anybody out there would like to try this with me, be my guest.