If we compare the brain to a farm and information to crops, as the farmer, you need to wisely allocate your limited land (time), carefully examine the quality of seeds (information sources), leave more space for high-yield crops, and prevent weeds from contaminating the land.

This is also the purpose of this article.

Ensuring a controllable process has two core points: first, classify information; second, reasonably plan the time and amount of consumption.

For each type of information, create a strict scope, meaning do not easily add or reduce sources, and consume within the time specified by the scope.

Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, once said, “Your time is limited.” The goal of adopting a timed and quantified strategy for consuming certain information is to avoid excessive time waste and effectively suppress some potential "accompanying information." For example, if an article recommends another public account, and the scope of that account does not align with the current time frame, it should be temporarily abandoned.

Passive Information

As the name suggests, this type of information is often uncontrollable, so it deserves a separate mention. When consuming, be careful not to be disturbed by noise, as commonly used IM software in China often contains unrelated content. Set do-not-disturb for unimportant information and quickly handle important messages.

• Messages from QQ and WeChat
• Sudden emails

Pure Junk Information

This type of information is a complete waste of precious time and should be guarded against. Examples include:

• Certain types of content on short video apps
• Trending topics on platforms like Weibo and Zhihu, filled with hype, hypocrisy, and lies
• Recommendation pages on shopping apps like Taobao and JD

Highly Fragmented, Low-Quality Information

This type of information is more for entertainment and serves as a pastime, providing little personal improvement. Not acquiring it will not result in any loss. It is advisable to browse it in a concentrated, timed, and quantified manner. My personal method is to browse for a fixed 30 minutes every Thursday evening, allocating projects as needed.

Stay alert while browsing; do not indulge or let loose.

• Twitter: Mainly used to follow brief news and updates from the tech world
• Telegram: Same as above
• Moments: Fresh happenings from people around you, interact periodically
• University public accounts: Usually report on campus news, not crucial, but following them can create a sense of belonging; a quick glance is sufficient.
• Information obtained during social interactions: For example, news shared by friends; maintain a certain level of self-judgment and consume rationally.

Low Fragmentation Entertainment Information

In contrast to the previous type, this requires more time for entertainment. For example:

• Movies
• Novels

On weekends or holidays, feel free to relax and enjoy a great movie or novel; no recommendations will be made here. I believe readers who enjoy films and books already have their own lists. We just need to take it easy.

Medium to Long Articles, Information for Further Processing

Such as high-quality public account articles, this type of information does not yield much learning upon first reading and requires accumulation and deep processing. It is recommended to obtain this type of information entirely through RSS, avoiding all other channels.

Similarly, it should be obtained at fixed times but not in fixed quantities. In my habit management software, I set it to browse the RSS reader every Tuesday and Saturday, usually taking more than half an hour, and I need to remember to take breaks.

• Zhihu Daily: Interesting stories, trivia, cultural literacy, suitable for selecting highlights to Flomo
• Ice Point Weekly: High-quality news focusing on the stories of ordinary people
• Filtered video channels: Strictly select the bloggers or channels you follow and watch in a quantified manner, for example, only watch one episode at a time.
• Minority Report: Articles of generally high quality, covering a wide range of fields, suitable for in-depth reading, and try to read every piece.
• Well-known foreign news media: Such as BBC, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, etc. This type of content is usually more detailed than Twitter content and can effectively improve English reading skills; try to browse every piece, though it’s not necessary to finish them.
• One: High-quality content aimed at artistic youth, enhancing literacy, and occasionally allowing oneself to be a bit emo.

Note: I do not recommend using WeChat's built-in public account feature to browse public account information. It is easy to be disturbed by personalized recommendations and advertisements; RSS can effectively avoid the troubles brought by commercialization.

For processing this type of information, my method is to use Floating Ink Notes. I will not elaborate on the note-taking method here.

Serious, High-Quality Information Collections

This type of information is designed specifically for learning, such as humanities and social sciences books, online courses, and booklets. There is no need for timed and quantified consumption; the focus is on the quality of absorption. Do not stop charging yourself; your abilities far exceed your imagination. In fact, the restraint exercised during the consumption of the first two types of information creates time and space for consuming this type of information.

When acquiring information, ensure it is systematic and structured content with certain depth; otherwise, it should be classified into other scopes.

• Books: For example, "Selected Works of Marx and Engels" and "Economics for Dummies," which are systematic and structured content. I believe reading should be a part of life, not something that needs to be deliberately scheduled, and one should not be too busy to read.
• Video MOOCs: It is recommended to write the consumption of this type of information into your daily schedule as a to-do item.

Currently, the information we can acquire can generally be divided into these categories. To summarize, the most important thing is to examine the quality of each information source. Your time is limited.