When I was a teenager, I loved going to the “All You Can Eat” midnight buffet at Eat’n’Park, the unlimited salad bar Ponderosa Steak House and Rax’s taco/salad bar. I was in awe of the smorgasbord of foods, toppings and sides that each offered. The prices were cheap. And I could eat a lot.
As an adult, I still enjoyed unlimited salad bars – especially those with other food options. But I often found the “other food options” weren’t appealing anymore.
It’s been a least 15 years since I last visited an “All You Can Eat buffet”. I can’t eat like that anymore. It’s too much food and too many low quality choices.
It might fill me up, but it no longer makes me feel good.
Recently, I realized that I’ve been doing a version of “All You Can Eat” online. I think about a former colleague who I haven’t talked to in years and I check them out on LinkedIn. I see a cute woman’s profile pick on a forum and I google her to find out more. I wonder about the net worth of someone in the news. I
I have a lot of idle thoughts that tumble through my head. To assuage my curiosity, I’ll ask Alexa or Siri a question. Or, if I’m in front of a device, I’ll google it myself.
All I’m really doing is filling my mind with low quality information that adds no value to my life.
So lately, I’ve been making myself sit with these thoughts and not act on them. It’s easy when I’m walking my dog (or swimming) because I don’t have my cell phone with me. By the time I get home, my curiosity has passed.
It’s harder when I am in front of my iPad or right next to my Echo.
But it’s not that hard. Mostly, it’s just breaking out of my habit of having instant access to any information I could possibly want – whether I need it or not.
It turns out that most of time, I don’t need it.