Balanced Information Diet
Pair selective intake with regular periods for reflection and digestion
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 97%
Harari compares information with food: both are necessary, but quantity and quality matter. Start by auditing what enters the mind and remove inputs that repeatedly overwhelm or distort perspective. Add a regular period with no new information and use it for observation, meditation, or deliberate reflection. Then create a longer recurring fast from phones, email, news, and even books when circumstances allow. Harari personally reports meditating for two hours daily and taking a 30-to-60-day annual retreat, but the transferable mechanism is the alternation between intake and digestion, not copying those durations. Review whether the cadence improves perspective and the ability to work, and adapt it to responsibilities and health rather than treating one person's routine as clinical guidance.
Origin
Harari describes the information diet and fasting routine he says supports his own writing and mental balance. Extracted from The Diary of a CEO.
Core principles
- 01Information intake needs selection as well as volume control
- 02Reflection is part of processing rather than wasted time
- 03Periods without new input can restore perspective
- 04A personal cadence should respect human limits
How to run it
- 1
Audit the intake
Record the sources, volume, timing, and emotional effect of the information you routinely consume.
Pro tip Separate information required for work from reflexive news or feed checking.
- 2
Improve the mix
Reduce sources that add noise or repeated agitation without contributing understanding.
Watch out Do not cut off information needed for safety, care, or professional duties.
- 3
Schedule daily digestion
Create a bounded daily period without incoming media, messages, or reading and use it to observe or reflect.
Pro tip Start with a sustainable duration rather than copying Harari's routine.
- 4
Add a longer fast
When feasible, schedule a longer recurring break from information channels to regain perspective.
Watch out Plan around caregiving, accessibility, and emergency-contact needs.
- 5
Review the effect
Assess whether the pattern supports perspective, calm, and the work or relationships that matter, then adjust it.
Watch out Personal benefit does not establish a universal health effect.
In the wild
Harari says he meditates for two hours each day and attends a 30-to-60-day retreat each year without phones, email, or books. He reports that this helps him process accumulated information and says he does not think he could do his work without the routine.
→ He reports gaining perspective and sustaining his writing and research practice.
Common mistakes
Copying an extreme duration
Harari reports a demanding personal routine; the mechanism does not require everyone to adopt the same hours or retreat length.
Calling avoidance reflection
An information fast should support considered engagement, not provide a blanket excuse to ignore necessary facts or responsibilities.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for people whose research, leadership, or online work keeps them inside a continuous information cycle.
Not ideal for
It is not medical treatment, and Harari's two-hour daily meditation and long annual retreats are personal practices rather than universal prescriptions.
From the transcript
“Information is the the food of the mind.”
“every year I go for a long meditation retreat of between 30 and 60 days”
From the episode
Yuval Noah Harari: The Urgent Warning They Hope You Ignore, “More War Is Coming”, Yuval’s Chilling Future Predictions!