If you knew watching, listening, or reading the news was going to make you a more angry, anxious and/or distracted person, would you ever watch, listen, or read it again?
The top story on the news is almost always negative – a tragedy, violence, or scandal. How can these not affect our emotions in a negative way?
Researchers have looked at how the rate of consuming news affects us. It gives us a momentary feeling of control, but then that gives way to anxiety, depression, and anger. The more we consume news, the more anxiety, depression, and anger we take in. This affects our sleep patterns, and we have less energy.
What are you really getting from consuming news? Are you really staying informed? When was the last time you consumed a piece of news that affected how you lived your life?
When was the last time a piece of news told you about a new law or something that could harm you specifically? Do you really need to watch CNN or Fox News to confirm the politician you don’t like really is as bad a person as you already knew? Maybe one or two times a year you hear or read something useful like a new scam that is going around that you need to be mindful of and avoid.
Be aware that for the news, you are the product for the advertizers. They want to keep you watching. They structure everything to keep you reading, watching, and listening through the advertisements.
If you watch the 5 o’clock or 6 o’clock news each day, take that time to go for a walk instead. That would be a double whammy of a benefit.
If you watch for the weather, install a weather app on your phone. If you cannot go cold turkey and need to scale back first, install a local news headline app on your phone.
How much more relaxed would you be if you unplugged from the news?
When the mainstream news becomes too depressing I turn to TMZ sports news! And science and technology news. I find scientific research and TMZ uplifting.