How to stop dreading your daily news feed
Posted on June 28, 2022 by Christina Ioannidou, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
News angst is more common than you think - here's what to do about it!
It happens to so many of us almost every day. Personally, whenever I check my LI or Twitter or even email, I’m worried of what gut-wrenching news I might read today.
In the past months, we have been bombarded with news about the pandemic, war, abortion laws – not to mention climate change, recession, unemployment and a lot more. Needless to say that this can cause or significantly pile up on existing stress, anxiety, depression and fatigue.
However, it is not always realistic to completely shut the world out – although many could argue that a digital detox can go a long way. And in principle, I don’t disagree with that.
Regardless of the numerous benefits of the digital detox, eventually you will have to reconnect with reality and inevitably get back to either reading, hearing or talking about what’s happening in the world.
So how can you make sure to keep yourself updated without adding more stress to your life?
Here are a few ideas:
1. Build boundaries through daily habits: be in control of when and for how long you will dedicate time to read the news or scroll down on your social media feed.
I only try to do it in the morning, right after breakfast and for no longer than 20 minutes. It helps me prepare for upcoming conversations but also, because I do it right before my day really starts to get busy, it’s easier for me to focus my thoughts on other things afterwards.
2. Consider turning off social media notifications on your phone for the rest of the day: notifications can be extremely distracting and tempting – but that’s exactly what they’re built for.
If you really cannot resist checking your social media outside of the dedicated time you have set, you can at least be in control of when you will revisit them instead of automatically clicking on the notification on your phone as soon as you see it.
3. Keep yourself grounded: stress tends to have a build-up effect in our minds and it can turn into fear. In order to avoid that, it’s always good to take a step back and try to gain some perspective.
If you’re feeling stressed out after checking the news, ask yourself whether this is affecting you directly or indirectly and to what degree. Is there something you can do about it today that will make a difference? How important is this topic for you? And most importantly, check your news source. Try to engage with reliable sources as well as a balance of positive news (yes, there are still good things in the world although they don’t make as many headlines).
Are there other things in your life that you’d like to improve but just don’t know where to start? Get in touch with me and let’s work together on making your life a little happier.
