Feeling all news’d out?
Feeling all-news’d out?
My life used to revolve around an overabundance of news stories: I ate my breakfast to BBC Radio 4, scrolled endlessly through news stories on my phone throughout the day, keeping pace with the latest Tweeterfeed. The media feeds us with constant headlines – some shocking, some entertaining, some completely absurd and dubious and certainly most our outside of our control. Currently, daily Brexit news causes deep uncertainties concerning the future of our economy. The continual barrage of pessimism, which focuses on shock value and worst-case scenarios, often filters out actual facts and real events.
Exasperated with the constant reel of bleak, scaremongering news stories, I decided to delete my news apps for good. The result?
Peace.
I felt more in control as my emotions were no longer a target to be manipulated by journalistic exaggeration and half-truths.
So, if the news is getting you down, here are my tips to switching off…
Limit your news notifications
To be more news-conscious and in control of what news you’re exposed to, you can either switch off your news alert notifications, or like me, delete your news apps completely! It’s good to know what’s happening around the world and be in the know of current affairs, but isn’t it wiser to seek out unbiased and reliable news sources?
Restricting news consumption by devoting a set period of the day to reading or listening to the news for 30 minutes or so at the end of the day will help balance the rest of your time with positive interactions in your life.
Seek out happy news
Believe it or not, there is good stuff happening in our world! Get your hands on a copy of The Happy Newspaper, which celebrates and reports positive stories and inspirational people. The Telegraph has also dedicated a section of their website to offer uplifting, feel-good news stories. Why not write your own good news stories to remind yourself of the goodness around you?
Make time for the real stories in your life
Constantly reading the news can makes us live passively, focusing so much on the negative stories we hear, but failing to recognise the most important stories in our own lives. Listening to negative news stories can make us also feel pessimistic and eventually grind us down, making us wonder defeatistly “what is the point?” It’s true we may not be able to change the President of the United States, but we can make small positive changes every day.
Avoid the argument
Sometimes it can be a distasteful video posted by Lad Bible or a statement you’ve seen on your Twitter feed which you absolutely disagree with, but before you start typing out a carefully worded comment or response, stop and think. Refrain from online arguments or commenting on posts which rile you up whilst you’re agitated, take a moment and think is it really worth it?
