Becoming more mindful of the news we ingest
If you’re struggling to cope, maybe it’s time to be more mindful of the way you take in news.
by: E.B. Johnson
Changing the way we ingest news might seem strange, but it might be just what you need if you’re struggling to cope right now. The world is a crazy place, and it’s easy to get caught up in the chaos with intense emotions of our own. By learning to be more mindful of the news we consume, however, we can reshape the way we feel and the way we see the world around us. A bombardment of news is never a good thing, but it’s especially toxic when you’re already stressed and struggling.
Stop allowing yourself to be sucked into 24-hours of endless coverage and start safeguarding your happiness and mental wellbeing. You don’t need to be constantly connected to the news to be up-to-date with what’s going on in the world. Give yourself a break, and give yourself some time to rest, recharge and recalibrate in this increasingly insane world we live in. Walking away from the news in a pandemic can be precisely the right answer when you feel overwhelmed by it all.
The news cycle is a danger to our wellbeing.
We live in interesting times, and we are more connected to one another than ever before. Along with this interconnectedness has come new ways to ingest our news and stay up-to-date on what’s going on. No matter where you look, you are confronted with an endless barrage of stories and articles that are meant to keep you informed. From natural disasters, wars and famines, to the never-ceasing “updates” on COVID-19 — you can hardly move without being confronted with a new version of an old story, and it’s enough to make anyone loses their mind.
Failing to give ourselves a break from this constant news cycle can result in some pretty nasty consequences — both for our minds and for our bodies. The effects of negative stress on our bodies is well-documented, and can cause aches, pains and a number of other physical symptoms that make it hard to function normally (or happily).
The biggest cost of failing to embrace world news mindfully? That comes down to our mental health, and the negative ways in which this 24/7 news cycle impact that wellbeing. When all you take in is negative news, stories and images, all your brain becomes able to output is negative thoughts, ideas and emotions. The quality of our lives are only as good as what we put into them. If you want to be happier, start by assessing the way you take in your news. Has it become an obsessive focus point in your life? It may be time to walk away.
Why too much news is toxic.
Too much news is toxic, and there are multiple studies that demonstrate us. It’s important to be informed, but if you push yourself too far, you can find your body dealing with some serious mental and physical side effects. Stop letting all the anger and the hatred disrupt you from your ultimate purpose — becoming a person who’s powerful enough to change the things you care about.
Poisonous physical effects
Whether you realize it or not, negative news takes a toll on your psyche and your moods. The longer those feelings are allowed to roam freely, the more they start to impact our physical bodies through the stress-hormones (like cortisol) they result in. If you’ve noticed a direct correlation between things like headaches, sleep disruptions or even weight gain — you’re not crazy. Negative news and the negative emotions they inspire take a major toll on our physical bodies.
Increased cognitive errors
Chaining ourselves to a news feed (more often than not) results in a major increase in cognitive errors. Chief among these is confirmation bias, which causes us to seek out only the information which justifies or otherwise “confirms” whatever thoughts and ideas we’ve created. This is toxic, because it doesn’t allow for an accurate view of reality, and it doesn’t allow for us to expand our perceptions of self and the world. In order to truly grow, we have to be open to new knowledge, and that can mean leaning into truths that contradict our knowledge.
Complete irrelevancy
Say you consumed 5,000 news stories a year. Out of all those stories, can you honestly think of one that had a direct and lasting impact on your life or the way you lived it? Was there one single piece of news that was solely responsible for something different you did that day — which entirely altered the course of your life from that moment on? When we’re really honest with ourselves, the answer to that question is usually “no”. Though knowledge is power, we consume a great deal of knowledge that’s of little use to us and our lives. This amount of irrelevant knowledge only takes us space where valuable ideas could dwell.
Zero explanations
The more knowledge and facts you absorb from the 24/7 news cycle, the harder you might find it to understand the world around you. There is such a thing as too much information. If you overwhelm yourself with negative non-stories, it can seriously muddy the waters of perspective and how you interact with your reality. Don’t allow yourself to be taken under by things that aren’t relevant to the direction you’re going. Stay informed, but know when enough is enough.
Addictive brain responses
We tend to think of addictions as belonging to the realm of drugs, alcohol and risky behaviors — but news too can become an addiction. Depending on your personality, you might find yourself become addicted and obsessed with gaining that next tidbit of advice. You want to be the first to know, and the first to tell others, but you drive yourself to the point of nervous exhaustion chasing that next thing to yell about.
Inhibiting your thinking
The fact of the matter is that our brains are only able to hold on to so much information at a time. If you overwhelm it with emotional news stories that eat up all your focus, it doesn’t leave a lot of room left to deal with all the other stress and pressure of your everyday life. Too much news seriously inhibits our thinking, and it changes the way we see the world. It can also make it impossible to make important decisions and distract us when we’re trying to take advantage of critical opportunities. The more negativity you take in, the more negativity you’ll find in your life.
Signs you’re ingesting too much news.
There are some concrete warning signs of a brain overwhelmed by news. From increased feelings of hopelessness to a complete loss of self; if these sound like you, it could indicate a serious need to take a step back.
Increased feelings of hopelessness
Almost everything you see or hear about on the news is beyond your scope of influence, yet they continue to show you these stories. Why? Because they elicit emotive responses from you that make you more likely to interact with their station, or improve their ratings. The downside to this, however, is that it also increases the feelings of hopelessness or apathy you might already be experiencing. Realizing that you cannot control a story that has impacted you emotionally can strike at your core, and impact both your contentment and confidence.
Wasting valuable time
Do you feel like you’re always chasing the day? Can’t catch up on the tasks that really matter, or falling behind on those digital deadlines that won’t stop piling up? Look back over the time you spend browsing news stories, celebrity gossip or the political bulletins that never stop. How many coronavirus stories (that say the same thing) are you reading a day? Constant news scrolling is a massive waste of time and something that could (realistically) be limited to a few minutes a day. Don’t underestimate the value of time as an indication of a serious addiction.
Over-informed and ready to battle
When you arm yourself with too much of a negative narrative, you can find yourself aggravated, stressed and ready to battle even the people that mean the most to you. The news makes us emotional, and while these emotions can serve a good purpose, they are often misdirected toward people who have little (if anything) to do with the real issues at hand. If you’ve found yourself confronting anyone and everyone — look at your news patterns. Are you over-informed and projecting onto the wrong people? Possibly.
No handle on reality
Failing to do your due diligence when it comes to news is dangerous, and it can destroy your life and the lives of everyone you know and love. In order to consume news responsibly, we have to ensure it is honest, factual and without spin. Reputable sources are everything, but when you allow yourself to become addicted to a less-than-reputable news source, you’ll also find yourself with zero-handle on reality.
Misinformed miscreant-ism
We’ve all seen the protesters armed to the teeth and storming government buildings in the wake of the latest pandemic. This type of misinformed miscreant-ism is — more often than not — a result of an oversaturation of unreliable news, which is created more to the purpose of evoking an emotional response than it is to inform. As these emotions build up, they begin to inspire our behavior and the actions we’re willing to put forward. Before long, we lose touch and find ourselves spiraling into behavior that undermines our ultimate purpose.
The benefits of of more mindful consuming.
Walking away from the news can have life-changing benefits for you and the people around you. If you’re looking for some peace, relief, or just some more time to get productive when it counts — consider reshaping the way you consume information about the world around you.
Overwhelming relief
The first thing you might notice after flipping off the 24-hours news cycle is an overwhelming sense of relief. Constantly confronting all the pain and all the ager in the world only makes us more angry. It’s imperative that we learn how to inform ourselves without pushing things so far that we lose sight of the bigger picture. Becoming so emotional that you can’t take action will do nothing to help you or the causes that you care about. When you walk away from all the bad news, you open up room for positivity in your life and the energy to go after the things you want.
Getting productively active
The news does a really good job of making you feel concerned about specific topics, which can in turn make you feel like you’re helping fix them. This idea is hollow, however, and when we take an honest look at it we realize that our concern is not equivalent to our action. Walking away from the news, though, frees us up to take real and helpful action in our lives. Whether you want to improve your world, or the world of someone else, walking away from the news is the best way to begin getting proactive.
More purposeful communication
Believe it or not, turning off the news can make you a more genuine and purposeful communicator. Over-absorbing yourself in run-of-the-mill politics and sensationalized media blocks up our channels and gives us tunnel vision. If you only ingest bad news, you’ll only have bad news to talk about. Stepping back allows us to re-immerse ourselves into the experiences and relationships that matter. Removing that negativity from your life can help you open up in new and transformative ways.
Improved health
All those aches and pains caused by the stress of your news obsession? It won’t take long for them to recede when you learn how to cut the cord. Taking some time away from the news, or giving yourself set, limited doses, will alleviate a lot of the tension that might be settling in your muscles and places like your neck and back. The more distance you put between yourself and your negativity, the greater you might notice those health improvements to be.
How to consume news more mindfully in the age of sensationalism.
Limiting or reshaping the news you take in the midst of a pandemic might seem like a scary concept, but it’s often precisely what we need to thrive again (see above). Make big changes in your life relationships by slowly changing the way you keep yourself informed and do it with these basic techniques.
1. Start slow, set limits
Cutting out the endless news cycle you’ve immersed yourself in isn’t something that can be done overnight. If you’re someone who constantly checks in to what’s going on in world events or politics, you’ll also find yourself dealing with an addiction that can only be replaced carefully. Don’t rush into cutting yourself off cold turkey. To truly overcome your need to ingest the news, start slow and set gentle limits with yourself that make it easier to succeed at the process.
Give yourself a scheduled block of “worry time” each day and use that time to unabashedly ingest and worry over chunks of negative news, or other negative things in your life. Set a timer, and give yourself a scrolling window, and take time to read some articles on anything you might be concerned about. Embrace your emotions and let yourself feel all the bad feelings. When the timer goes off, however, walk away — and put it to the back of your mind.
Take a snapshot of how you feel before your scheduled news block, then compare how you feel after reading the stories on coronavirus, celebrity gossip, or the general political quagmire that is most news in the modern day. Watch how those feelings linger and pay attention to how they impact you throughout the rest of the day. The more you understand the emotional toll a barrage of news can take, the easier it becomes to overcome. Take it easy on yourself and go slow, though. There’s no need to rush.
2. Consciously consuming the positive
Learning how to walk away from news isn’t just about learning how to cut out the bad stuff. It’s also about learning how to find the positive stuff. Just as there are a million bad stories out there, there are a million good stories too; stories which can inspire us, uplift us, or cause us to believe in better versions of ourselves. Rather than just walking away from the non-stop tickers and cable diatribes — make an effort to get back in touch with all the good that still exists in this world. It will change the way you see yourself and your opportunities.
Start with great sites like Positive.News or The Good News Network. Make these stories an equal part to your day and try to see yourself in the good feelings the stories inspire you to feel. Don’t just give all your attention to the bad things in this world. Understand that the positive and the good events and people around us are just as important.
If you give yourself 15 minutes to consume negative, mainstream news every day, then ensure that you also spend 15 minutes looking for positive or uplifting stories that can make you feel better. Don’t end a browsing session on a bad note. Look for the good and use that to set your own intentions for the day or for your life. The more we consciously consume the positive in our lives, the more we will start to see those same kinds of casual happenings all around us. Open up your mind and your heart to a different world. One that is just as good as it is bad.
3. Using positive rewards
Feel like you just aren’t strong enough to break that addiction you’ve formed to being always “in the loop”? Positive rewards are a fantastic way to break the habit for news you’ve developed. You can reward yourself for keeping away, or you can learn to use positive activity as a reward for sticking to your limits. However you decide to use them, they can add some really motivating benefits to putting down the phone, and walking away from the news in the midst of a pandemic.
Don’t sit around miserably, allowing your mind to imagine what’s going on. Instead, distract yourself with something you love or something you enjoy. Let yourself binge that show you’ve been wait listing on Netflix, or finally crack open that book that’s been sitting on the “to read” pile for years. Whenever you make the healthy choice to walk away from a news binge — reward yourself with something that makes the discomfort worthwhile.
Likewise, rewards can be a lot more subtle and a lot more beneficial. For example, rather than outright rewarding yourself for simply avoiding a peep at the news — you can reward yourself with something positive even after a scheduled window of “negative news time”. Do something healthy, uplifting and positive after reading or watching anything that upsets you. Go for a run, cook a healthy meal with your family. Clean up that junk drawer once and for all. Positive rewards go a long way in reshaping our wellbeing and the way we react to and process the endless news cycle.
4. Constructive replacements
Constructive replacements are a great way to go about relinquishing our addiction to constant negative news. Whether we like to admit it or not, our addictions take up considerable space in our lives. Our lives only come with finite room, so when we kick something to the curb we have to fill that space with something else. Constructive hobbies, pastimes and distractions are a perfect way to do that while still adding considerable value to our lives.
Take a good look at all that time you spend scrolling through news feeds and social media battlegrounds. What would happen if you filled that time with activities that contributed to your physical and mental health, or even your professional wellbeing?
Find ways to distract yourself that are also good for you. Perhaps you start writing that novel you’ve been dreaming of, or maybe you go for a fifteen minute run. What you do doesn’t matter, but what does matter is how it makes you feel. Notice how differently your emotions settle when they’re not constantly being bombarded by news of death, devious politicians, or pandemics we can’t stop. Find constructive replacements and allow them to build into a positive practice that enhances your life.
5. Hit that unsubscribe button
If you’re someone who has had an update addiction for a long time, then odds are you’re signed up to all kinds of updates and push notifications that keep you in the loop no matter where you are. The problem with this, however, is that it never gives you a time to relax and recharge your brain. You’re always on alert, and you’re always looking for the next negative event. It keeps you constantly in the cloud, but when we hit that unsubscribe or unfollow button — we can give ourselves a little peace.
Understand that you don’t have to have every snippet of information as soon as it becomes available. Embrace the power of your own wellbeing and let go of that FOMO (fear of missing out) that’s keeping you chained to your phone, TV, or computer. Whether you find out at 7PM tonight, or 6AM tomorrow, what difference does it ultimately make? Release the urgency.
Unsubscribe from any less-than-reputable news sources and hit the “no thanks” button on those news outlets that lean more into emotion (rather than raw fact). The Associated Press released great updates through platforms like Twitter, which contain small bursts of factual information that help you build your knowledge without emotional overwhelm. Don’t chain yourself to a dying horse. Give yourself freedom and air to breathe in some positivity every now and again by unsubscribing from the endless news cycle.
6. Fill your life with meaning
One of the best ways to overcome your obsessive need to stay “plugged in” is to fill your life with meaning. So many of us struggle to define the purpose in our lives, and an even bigger portion of us don’t realize how important that purpose is at all. When we fail to fill our lives with meaning, it results in an endless chase and a lot of empty space in our hearts and in our minds. We will fill that space up with anything we can find, and when we’re feeling unsure or insecure, that’s often (and partially) with news.
Rather than relying on an obsessive focus toward tomorrow, start living in the present by realizing the meaning in your life. Tap into those things which inspire your passion, and which otherwise motivate you to be or do something better than what you’re doing right now.
Stop allowing yourself to be buffeted around by political climes and the ceaseless barrage of fear. Keep yourself rightfully informed, but don’t overwhelm yourself. Stay focused on those things which add value to your life, and through that value start to identify the pastimes, passions and activities which make you a more well-rounded and valuable human being. When you fill your life with meaning, you don’t have time for wave after wave of fear. That’s because you’re set on a destiny and taking the steps you need to make that destiny come true.
Putting it all together…
We live in a 24/7 news cycle and it’s hard to escape — especially in the midst of a pandemic. Walking away from the constant barrage of bad political press and endless old-info updates can free you up to start seeing yourself and the world in a better light. If you find that you’re struggling with stress, anxiety and increased feelings of hopelessness, check in on your news patterns. Are you caught up in a never-ending loop of rhetoric, negativity, and world-shattering events? It might be time to give yourself a break.
Start slow and start by setting limits with yourself. Work within a routine, and give yourself measured out, restricted windows of time in which to engage with and ingest negative news. You don’t need to hear a story (from a reputable source) more than once to be aware (enough) of what’s going on in the world. Don’t feed into the 24/7 negative news cycle. Consciously source and digest positive news too. Only reading negative news will result in negative feelings and attitudes. Use positive rewards to break the spell and discover new ways to tap into the information that’s out there. Distract yourself and find positive replacements that allow you to better use your time. Hit the unsubscribe button or drop those push notifications. You don’t have to be plugged in to every single update. There are few things urgent enough in this world that can’t be delayed until tomorrow. Stop allowing that feeling of rush and panic to control you and limit it through limiting the amount of news you take in. Fill your life with meaning and allow that meaning to drive you toward making this world a genuinely better place through action.
