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Around a month ago, I decided to take a 2 week hiatus from the unrelenting barrage of negative news. Politics. War. Fires. It was too much for my nervous system to take. I deleted all news apps from my phone and news bookmarks from my web browser.
Then, I reinstated them. But this time, I put boundaries around how to stay informed so I can do my part on the socio-political issues that matter to me, AND protect my mental health and wellbeing at the same time.
In case you too are struggling to balance your wellbeing with staying informed, this post shares four ways to work with your brain rather than against it as you navigate the unrelenting torrent of news.
STORY: Use Your Brain to Avoid News Overload
READ MORE: Resources I've found helpful in navigating the news
BOOK STUFF: Join us for our final conversation about The Transcendent Brain by Alan Lightman THIS Thursday February 27, 2025, at 4 pm PST.
GOING FURTHER: Events coming your way!
February 26 - Shasta County women, join us for a FREE in person Women’s Leadership Collective. This months conversation is about Executive Presence.
April 25-28 - Heroine’s Journey Women’s Leadership Retreat (Registration Closes March 21st)
STORY: Use Your Brain to Avoid News Overload
In her book, Atlas of the Heart, Brené Brown describes overwhelm as life "unfolding faster than my nervous system and psyche can manage it." For many of us, we were barely hanging on as it was between work and home and kids. But then, many of us have been directly impacted by recent policy changes. And for all the rest of us, the unrelenting pace of the news cycle, particularly when amplified by social media, feels like we're living in a nonstop hurricane of breaking news and moral outrage.
I could tell that my nervous system and psyche was overwhelmed. So for several weeks, I stopped. Time out! I needed to let my brain and body recover.
But what's happening in the world matters to me, my family, my community, my clients. I couldn't stay isolated from the news and remain in integrity with my values and purpose.
As I was preparing to reengage, I asked myself three questions.
1) What's the most impactful contribution that I can make right now?
Today's news cycle has too many issues, too much information, too big to handle. The torrent of information exceeds the ability of our working memory to hold it all. Our working memory is limited, the capacity fixed. Too much and we overload. Whether you are on the right or the left, the current news cycle is simply too much for our brains to handle well.
So the first question I asked myself was: what contribution do I want to make right now?
I have special expertise and skill in some areas, not others. I'm passionate about some topics, not others. I shine brightest with some responsibilities, not others. The contribution I want to make, what's called my zone of genius, lies at the intersection of my strengths and passions and society's needs.
I know that my zone of genius is supporting leaders and building community. Thus the focus of my media consumption will be filtering the information torrent to specifically support those actions.
Unfortunately, that means that there are some societal issues that I care deeply about but that are NOT in my zone of genius to be able to impact. I must let others who have the right strengths and passions to make a difference do that work while I focus on what I can do best.
This is a team effort. It's okay to pass the baton to others. It's okay to specialize on your best track and field event, and let your teammates take gold in the other events.
2) What sources of information contain fact-checked, balanced, ethically-reported, non-clickbait-y news?
Social media is no longer fact-checked. No single source is truly balanced. Opinion pieces don't adhere to journalistic standards.
Best practice suggests seeking headline-level "here's the big picture" kind of stuff and then taking a deep-dive, issue-specific approach towards making the informed impact you want.
Personally, I love the approach of https://www.allsides.com which offers a run down of top news headlines with links to coverage from the right, the left, and the center. I'll also be keeping BBC as a regular (non-US) big picture news source, the Economist as my physical news magazine, Science and Nature for science news, Greater Good Science Center for actionable positive psychology, and Shasta Scout for local news.
Choose your news sources carefully.
3) When and how much news to consume?
The research (and everyday experience) says that a steady stream of news all day, every day makes anxiety worse. Moreover, social media and news media is specifically designed to trigger your brain to keep scrolling. Dopamine is a powerful neuromodulator that is released when you encounter something unexpected (either positive OR negative) and motivates you to seek more of it.
Thus, I set up strong boundaries for myself. I limited news consumption to 15 minutes a day in a single sitting + deep dive articles on my computer (not phone) when relevant + magazines on weekends. Screen Time App Limits on my phone and computer are fabulous ways to grey-out certain apps and websites after I hit the limit because I know my dopamine system won't let me stop on my own. (See this from How To Geek for Android app limits.)
I often need to be informed before meeting with clients, but don't want terrible news to cloud family time, so I set my morning news reading for after the kids go to school but before I sit down to work. Now, when I'm bored or transitioning tasks mid-day or in the evening and seek a quick dopamine hit, I'll be confronted with a greyed out screen on my phone or web browser.
Boundaries. Boundaries. Boundaries.
4) What if I'm outraged?
For me as a scientist, the current disregard for well-established data and research is appalling. For me as a leadership coach, the DOGE-led reorganization of the federal government goes against every best practice in the book. For me as the daughter of immigrants, the dehumanization of immigrants and refugees makes my blood boil.
We all have core values and get emotionally triggered when these are violated. We all have buttons that the news pedian pushes. We all get outraged by misinformation.
There's a TON of misinformation out there and recent research from Northwestern suggests that outrage helps misinformation spread more widely.
Emotional trigger/core values breach --> outrage --> knee-jerk reaction (aka likes & shares or rants & comment-battles) --> media companies win --> we burnout and numb-out.
According to Ezra Klein, that's actually a core part of the conservative strategy -- to inundate us with so much information mixed with misinformation mixed with misdirection, that we get overwhelmed and disengage.
The remedy is to insert an intentional pause so that you respond rather than react. Breathe. Go for a walk. Pet the dog. Make a cup of tea. Read a fantasy novel. Talk to a friend. Hit the gym. Scream into a pillow. Do what you need to do to pause before reacting.
"Between stimulus and response there is space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."
(Oft attributed to Viktor Frankl though more likely inspired by Rollo May and popularized by Stephen Covey)
Since implementing these four interventions to defuse the impact of news feed overload (stick to my zone of genius, choose news sources carefully, set boundaries, and pause before reacting), I've found that the hardest of them for me to do consistently is stick to my boundaries. Especially when I'm anxious or busy or stressed. I'll override my grey-ed out apps. I'll sneak in some extra news on my computer. I'll fall into a black hole on some innane topic that has me triggered.
What can I say but I'm human.
However, over the past two weeks, I have felt so much better able to balance my need for information and my wellbeing. I'm more present with my family, more intentional with my community service, and less angry/anxious with myself.
Here's wishing the same for you.
READ MORE:
In case you're curious to do your own research, I found these articles and resources really helpful!
From HBR, an article on how to consume news without getting overwhelmed.
From Ezra Klein, an audio essay on how the overwhelming flood of threats and uncertainty may be intentional.
From the LA Times, with the warning that social media isn't "free". You're paying with your time and attention. "You're the product."
From Scientific American on "outrage fatigue" https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/how-to-avoid-outrage-fatigue-and-tune-in-without-burning-out/
BOOK STUFF: BOOK CLUB THIS THURSDAY FEB 27 at 4PM
Join us this Thursday Feb 27 at 4pm PST for our final discussion on The Transcendent Brain by Alan Lightman
Whether you have read the book or not, we hope to have you there to participate in conversation AND when you join in on this call you also get to help us decide what the next book will be!
If you are not yet signed up and receiving calendars for book club contact tessa@irenesalter.com today to be added.
GOING FURTHER:
We have a little over three weeks left for enrollment of this years Heroine’s Journey Women’s Leadership Retreat . If you have been contemplating how to talk to the boss about this professional development retreat, don't do it alone. Contact Tessa to get on my calendar so we can discuss goals and construct a pitch to your boss together.
If you are a North State local, this weeks Womens' Leadership Collective Feb 26 is almost full, if you planned to join and haven't yet RSVPd please be sure to do so. We also have April 9 and May 21 upcoming, keep an eye out for those!
Great reminder to limit ourselves when feeling overwhelmed. This was very timely for me, as the news cycle is spinning out of control lately, and I can't focus on what's important. My dog is loving all the extra walks, as I give myself a break. But I sneak in a news podcast or two while I'm walking, lol.