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Are you always logged in? Take a break. A new study warns that too much time browsing social media could lead to short-term memory loss. Contrary to common wisdom, an idle brain is in fact doing important work - and in the age of constant information overload, it's a good idea to go offline on a regular basis, according to a researcher from Stockholm's KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
Erik Fransen, whose research focuses on short-term memory and ways to treat diseased neurons, said that a brain exposed to a typical session of social media browsing can easily become hobbled by information overload. The result is that less information gets filed away in your memory.
The problem begins in a system of the brain commonly known as the working memory, or what most people know as short-term memory. That's the system of the brain that we need when we communicate, Fransen said. 'Working memory enables us to filter out information and find what we need in the communication. It enables us to work online and store what we find online, but it's also a limited resource,' he said.
'At any given time, the working memory can carry up to three or four items. When we attempt to stuff more information in the working memory, our capacity for processing information begins to fail.
'When you are on Facebook, you are making it harder to keep the things that are 'online' in your brain that you need. 'In fact, when you try to process sensory information like speech or video, you are going to need partly the same system of working memory, so you are reducing your own working memory capacity.
'And when you try to store many things in your working memory, you get less good at processing information,' he said. You're also robbing the brain of time it needs to do some necessary housekeeping. The brain is designed for both activity and relaxation, Fransen said.
'The brain is made to go into a less active state, which we might think is wasteful; but probably memory consolidation, and transferring information into memory takes place in this state. Theories of how memory works explain why these two different states are needed. 'When we max out our active states with technology equipment, just because we can, we remove from the brain part of the processing, and it can't work,' Fransen said.
Tips to beat internet addiction
Admission
Admit it. You are addicted to the net. It gives you the same rush, the same heady high of that first cigarette of the day. Admission is the first step to rehabilitation. This applies to any kind of addiction.
Be honest with yourself
Your virtual life has taken over your real life. In fact, you end up thinking I need to update/upload this on my profile. Your need to take perfect holiday pictures overrules the actual enjoyment of the holiday. You need to focus on staying in the present.
Think before you go online
Pause to think before you go online next time what am I looking for? Why am I here? Making a mental note about what you plan to do once you are logged on gives you a direction to follow. Make a physical note if you must.
What did you do online?
Reflect on what you did once you went online. Did you just view your Facebook account. Or did some window shopping on e-commerce sites? Find out where you're wasting your time.
Stop wasting time
Decide beforehand the time limit you will spend on the net. Keep it to a minimum of 20 minutes. Twice a day should suffice.
Ignore smart phone notifications
Our smart phones have literally become our third appendage. You don't have to check every single thing out. Just shut off the notifications from time to time.