Per the University of California, the average American consumes more than 30 gigabytes of information or about 100,000 words every day, from activities such as watching movies, reading newspapers, browsing the internet, listening to people and listening to the radio. Some of this information ends up in long-term memory, while the rest may vanish after a short while. If you keep consuming information every day without a break, you may suffer an information overload, which can adversely affect your mental health. For instance, during COVID-19, mental fatigue may result from numerous virtual meetings, stress and fear of contracting the virus, too much information concerning the pandemic, and financial problems, as reported by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).
With that in mind, here are five effective ways to prevent mental fatigue due to information overload.
Get Enough Sleep
According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), the activity of your brain when you are asleep can affect your mental and emotional health. Quality sleep helps the brain process information and consolidate positive emotions. For this reason, you should sleep for at least seven hours per day to allow your brain to process the information and prevent mental fatigue.
Take Regular Breaks
The primary solution to fatigue is a simple yet healthy break. For example, you can take a 10-minute nap or just stay away from screens, talking, reading, and doing all other things, for five to 10 minutes after work. Healthy breaks will not only help you avoid mental exhaustion but also elevate your mood, refuel your energy, and improve your work performance, says the American Psychological Association (APA). For maximum benefits, ensure you take frequent uninterrupted breaks.
Use Digital Devices to Set Reminders
Human memory can typically hold seven items at a time, as reported by the McGill University. This means that if you consume too much information, high chances are that your short-term memory will suffer an overload, and you may experience mental fatigue. To avoid this, set reminders and use notifications on your digital devices, and this will help you remain on schedule without overloading your mind with to-dos.
Exercise
Since mental fatigue manifests in the form of reduced mental alertness and performance impairment, physical activity can help curb it, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Exercise refreshes your mind, allowing irrelevant information to leave the brain to create space for new information.
Focus on Important Information
Every day, you consume all kinds of information, relevant and irrelevant. If you give both types equal attention, you will suffer mental exhaustion as your brain strives to process them. For this reason, you should always focus on what is important and ignore irrelevant information. For example, information concerning your business project is important and should be in your memory. However, things like what you ate for lunch or the dress you wore last week should not concern you as such information only overloads your brain. Per Oregon State University, some of the ways to improve your long-term memory include repetition, a healthy sleep and break schedule, using elaboration to connect pieces of information together, and the use of schemas to locate patterns in information.
Use these five tips to prevent mental fatigue and information overload during COVID-19. Have peace of mind that your health is protected with the right health insurance and life insurance. When looking for the right coverage, don’t hesitate to contact the experts at Donald Weiss Insurance Services. Our dedicated team is ready to assist you with all your insurance needs.
