Why I Stopped Watching the News and How It Made Life Calmer

"No News Is Good News: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World"

Just a picture to give you a little sense of calm. Photo by Nadine Marfurt.

The Impact of News on Our Lives

Last night, I watched the movie Woman of the Hour, starring and directed by Anna Kendrick. It tells the story of a serial killer based on true events. I chose to watch it because Mary Beth was on the phone. She avoids intense movies since they make her a bit anxious.

Surprisingly, the film affected me too. Normally, I can handle this genre without a hitch. To make matters worse, we then turned on the news to catch up on the day’s political events. While the news wasn’t horrific, the combination of the movie and the news left me feeling unsettled.

As we do every night, we wrapped up our bedtime TV ritual with an episode of Friends. Sometimes we only watch halfway, but other nights we enjoy the full episode. This routine helps Mary Beth (more than me) calm her mind. Last night, it helped me too.

My Relationship with News

Last night’s experience was unusual for me.

I realized I hardly watch the news anymore. It's been about ten years since I made a conscious effort to cut back. I used to tune in every night, and my social media feeds were filled with news stories. You probably know how social media algorithms work, they feed you what you engage with. The more you watch something, the more it appears. Your brain operates similarly, but that’s a topic for another time.

Now, if a major event occurs, I usually hear about it from Mary Beth or our kids, not through social media or TV. I’ve even set my social media feeds to exclude news entirely.

Here’s how successful I was in eliminating news from my social media: I received ZERO notifications when Queen Elizabeth passed away a few years ago. The only way I found out was through my family. I also only got one notification about the winner of the last presidential election.

Today, political news seeps into business and entertainment posts. As a result, I’ve had to unsubscribe from various outlets to reduce the negativity that news brings.

The Weight of Bad News

For me, news, whether political or local, is often 95% bad or anxiety-inducing. I strive daily to eliminate these sources from my life.

For instance, I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, hoping to read about business news. However, 90% of their front-page articles have political headlines. Earlier this year, I unsubscribed from several other business publications for the same reason. I re-signed up for WSJ because there were articles I genuinely wanted to read.

Instead of consuming news that seems to consume me, I focus on what uplifts me.

Some might say I live in a bubble. But I prefer to eliminate negativity that comes from watching, listening to, or reading the news.

By choosing to eliminate negativity, I create space for positive thoughts.

The Neuroscience of Filtering Information

Lately, I’ve been diving into neuroscience. One fascinating topic is how our brains filter what we want to see, much like social media algorithms. Did you know your brain processes 11 billion (yes, with a B) bits of information every second? Yet, you only consciously process about 40 bits per second.

Think about that. It’s such a small number that my phone calculator struggled to display it. When I divided 40 by 11 billion, I got .0000000036. That’s an incredibly tiny fraction of what our brains process.

Consider when you’re driving. You focus on the road and maybe the car in front of you. But what about the hundreds of trees whizzing by or the clouds overhead? Your brain filters them out.

By choosing what we allow into our minds, we can create more space to elevate our sensory experiences.

Embracing Positivity

So, why not filter out the news and opt for a good comedy instead?

You might feel better as a result. I know I do. 😊

Cover photo by Cole Keister.

How to Leave Work Behind and Enjoy a True Vacation

Photo by Ethan Robertson

Would you bring your phone into the water? I am sure some of us would but many of us would leave it on the ground somewhere because we don't want to drop it in the water and have it ruined or worse, lose it forever.

We are attached to our phones, tablets, and computers and it makes it really hard to disconnect when we go on vacation. This post is specific to disconnecting from work when you are on vacation.

Before I go any further, there needs to be a mental shift in your thought process. Here is the hard truth...the world will not come to an end if you don't respond to your email or join that conference call.

Especially nowadays, there are more and more people that understand that vacations are important but actually doing it and abstaining from work is so much harder. Think back to when you were a kid in school. Do you remember recess? Schools didn't create recess to allow kids to have fun, they recognized that the break actually helped with everyone's focus and attention when they got back to class. Even Henry Ford recognized that the factory line workers were more productive when they had a break.

So why is it that when we go on vacation, we continue to work. I am sure there are many physiological reasons for this that I am not qualified to answer but one that seems to come to mind is that we feel (or want to feel) that the job we have can't be done without us. If we don't respond to your boss, colleague, staff or customer, who will do it in your place? If someone else responses in your place, does that mean your are replaceable...Probably. But think about it this way, if you are the only person who can do your job, you will never be able to get promoted. Let that thought sit in your mind for a minute.

Now that you have realized that you aren't the only person that can do your job, let people know you are going on vacation. That means letting your boss, colleagues, staff, and customers know you will be gone.

Here's the first big tip- don't put on your out of office message that states "in case of emergency, call my cell" or "I will be checking emails once a day". That means you are still connected. For a vacation to be truly effective, you have to completely disconnect.

That also means not checking emails which will be the hardest part. The feeling of not knowing what is happening (or Fear of Missing Out - FOMO) is hard to get past. It can be done and let me share a few examples. The best I have seen is a former colleague of mine went on her honeymoon and changed the email password on her computer but not her phone. This enabled her not to get any new messages during her special time but was still able to use her phone for personal reasons.

I have found that for me, when I open up my phone, I automatically press the email button. To prevent this from happening on my vacation, I move the icon to another screen into a folder, so it is away from the automatic opening. I have learned to be disciplined not to go in and read the emails but do so on the plane ride home as vacation is over. Even then, I only delete messages that aren't needed, I don't respond and will wait until the following workday.

Now here are the benefits and there are a few.

1. You will feel better that you were able to take a real break from work. You probably got to the point that you were starting to or were already burned out. I heard recently from one colleague that said his manager and staff all noticed that he was more relaxed upon his return from vacation because this was the first time he actually disconnected from work.

2. Your family or friends (and you) will appreciate the dedicated time you are spending with them. Don’t use the excuse that I am doing the work before everyone gets up and out of bed. The idea is to completely disconnect so you can be ultra productive when you return, not just be at the same/declining rate of productivity as before you left.

3. You will be more creative to solve problems upon your return and

4. Let me repeat, you will feel better.

Now go book that vacation and let everyone know you are nowhere to be found. I like to use the excuse that I don’t want to get sand in my phone😊

Cover photo credit from Linus Nylund

Digital Detox and the Power of a 10-Minute Phone Free Walk

Photo by Markus Winkler

It's ironic that I am posting online about disconnecting. It is also becoming more difficult every day to not be attached to a device.

The struggle is real as the saying goes. While I am not a doctor, psychologist, or scientist, I know the brain sends signals that give a person a feeling of connection and sends other signals of enjoyment.

Why would a person want to give that up?

There are lots of reasons why we justify the need to be with our phones. For most of us, it started out as just to be social, but now it's an addiction. It also may be because of work, staying attached to communicate with a sick family member, being able to respond to your kids or parents, or just waiting for a friend to reach out.

The result of being attached to our phone so much is we feel trapped, often times not even realizing we are feeling being locked in a room with the walls starting to close in on us. We have all been in a situation where once you are removed from the event, you feel like there is a weight off of your shoulder. It could be a bad situation at work, a breakup from a bad relationship, or the stress of any situation. When the event ends, there is a sense of relief.

Recently, I just read that when you scroll on social media, your brain gets these small dopamine hits. What is really happening is your brain is getting flooded with artificial dopamine hits all day long. The long-term result is your real life starts to look boring. Things that used to be fun and exciting to you are now not very exciting. Pick up a book, nah. Go out and see people, why? Things seem more fun on your phone.

But how can disconnect? First, you have to make the mental shift that the world is not going to come to an end if you are not connected to your phone. I know this is really, really, really hard but I am sure you already disconnect and don't even know it, maybe when jumped in the pool or ocean this summer, or even the shower each day. We are all so protective of our phones, not just because of the need to be connected, but because they are so expensive and we don't want to get them ruined with water and thus, we break the connection with the phone to go into the water.

For me, when the pandemic started, I needed the mental break and decided that I was going to leave my phone in the house after lunch and take a 10-minute walk outside. I found this process liberating and came to realize that the world didn't come to an end (even with the global pandemic) and when I returned from my 10-minute walk, all was back to normal. I also found this short walk without my phone gave me a recharge for the second half of the day to keep me productive. I still do it today during every workday.

Try it for yourself, take 10 minutes and walk outside. When you return, I am sure everything will still be the same. And while you are there, maybe enjoy the fresh air!

Cover photo credit to Kelly Sikkema