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Turn Off Your Notifications
If not managed well, our news consumption will consume us
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ZORA Fam,
We’re living in wild times with a daily news cycle that’s giving us severe whiplash. In just the past few days, we’ve discovered Ice Cube’s dangerous political ideologies after word got around that he worked with — and was being used by — the Trump administration. Jeffrey Toobin’s Zoom meeting got a little out of hand, as many folks joked, though the seriousness of it was no laughing matter for others. Feds revealed Russia and Iran interfered with our presidential election. Covid cases and deaths continue to spike. Unemployment struggles are rampant. Racism is still stealing dreams. Nigeria is bleeding.
And there are many more stories vying for our attention.
“News overload is taking a toll on us,” says writer Cherie Berkley in her recent essay for ZORA. But Berkley, a journalist whose job is to keep up with the news, assures us with proper boundaries we can limit the overwhelm of news.
For Berkley, those boundaries started with a media break that lasted nearly two weeks. Distancing herself from the news gave her a greater sense of clarity and allowed her to gain control of her day — and her life.
“In those 10 days, I learned there is some truth to the notion that ignorance is bliss,” Berkley writes. “Since then, I’ve recalibrated my news consumption in a way that would not expunge the joy I found without it. I mix in more lighthearted content with the hard news. I don’t do deep dives with every story, take frequent breaks from news coverage throughout the day, and make sure it’s not the last thing I see at night.”
We’re all better off drawing some dividing lines to ensure the detriments of a never-ending news cycle don’t overwhelmingly impact our well-being. If not managed well, our news consumption will consume us. Let’s do our best to remain whole. Even it means turning off our breaking news notifications.
For more tips on how to avoid becoming overwhelmed in today’s information-saturated world, read: “News Overload Is Killing Us.”
