Tips on kicking News addiction ?

[Skyrank]

Right now I'm spending way too much reading News article , commenting on them, and even worse thinking about them throughout the day.

Should be doing more productive things, like reading this forum and doing work.

Turns out it's bad for people's health also.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/todays-political-climate-is-bad-for-some-americans-health-11570455824


Any ideas on how to quit ?

 

[MrSempay]

It's really difficult.

I used to be addicted to it, but then I realized it wasn't any value to my life, so I stopped. The best thing that helped was finding other hobbies and interests.

 

[slickbrick]

Right now I'm spending way too much reading News article , commenting on them, and even worse thinking about them throughout the day.

Should be doing more productive things, like reading this forum and doing work.

Turns out it's bad for people's health also.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/todays-political-climate-is-bad-for-some-americans-health-11570455824


Any ideas on how to quit ?

Scheduling your days to be productive.

Incorporate meditation and training, even bodyweight training.

Throw your phone in another room when you're working.

And don't be a pussy overall

 

[Yack]

There are browser extensions that will restrict your access to certain sites after so many minutes.

 

[ch3sty]

There is an interesting study on the view of the world after consuming a "high amount of media".

A person who is active and tags along in every news-feed and media outlet often has more of a negative perception of the world than other ppl. And wrongfully so.
The study which I'm referring to is made by "Gapfinder" and has been done in 14 different countries and the outlines of that study is basically that:

News is often negative, you report about some bombings, murders, catastrophes and so on.... But not really about anything positive, at least not something that sticks to you like a piece of really sad news does.

And therefore, in the long run, you will have a delusional world view and believe that the world is in a worse state than it actually is.

An example of that could be like:
The crime/murder rate in your country could be down 50% in the last 30 years. But the media has become better to report about crimes/murders(since news sells) so your perception would be that the crime/murder rate actually has gone up under the same period.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you skipped a few of those news sessions, you could be a happier person. At least have a more positive view of the world and your surroundings.

 

[splishsplash]

Right now I'm spending way too much reading News article , commenting on them, and even worse thinking about them throughout the day.

Should be doing more productive things, like reading this forum and doing work.

Turns out it's bad for people's health also.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/todays-political-climate-is-bad-for-some-americans-health-11570455824


Any ideas on how to quit ?

Just stop. It's the only way.

After a couple of weeks you'll stop thinking/wanting.


News is completely useless. Commenting is even worse.

It makes no difference to anyone what's going on in different parts of the world.

Everything is going on. Everything will always be going on. Something is always happening somewhere.

Instead, we can just focus on our own projects, create and be happy.

It's not just a neutral thing either. Media is negative. Very negative. It's what sells. No one wants to read stories like "Pensioner in the Mid West Grows Beautiful Giant Tomatoes". They want "Pensioner in the Mid West Grows Dangerous, Deadly Tomatoes That Kill Local Kittens"

It pollutes your mind with negativity and makes the world seem a dark place.

 

[Moha Rose]

Use browser extensions

 

[fragmonkey]

Think about how the overwhelming majority of news has no impact on your life, and how you are completely powerless to do anything about the news anyway. Then you can quickly stop caring.

 

[710fla]

Stop reading the news. Simple as that

 

[akitas]

I used to have a news addiction that was made worse by my constant access to my iPhone. My solution was to switch phones to something less powerful that'd deter me from even wanting to look. Then, I engaged in replacement behaviors through new hobbies. I chose to learn about a sector of technology that had interested me for years.

 

[darkblitzrc]

Wait am I missing the point here? What's so bad about being informed of what's happening around the world? I mean sure you have an addiction to reading news but for the majority of other people I think it's important to keep up with the world.

am I crazy?

 

[akitas]

Wait am I missing the point here? What's so bad about being informed of what's happening around the world? I mean sure you have an addiction to reading news but for the majority of other people I think it's important to keep up with the world.

am I crazy?

Na, you're not crazy to think people have an obligation to stay informed. OP shouldn't stop reading all news. However, the behavior he described is unhealthy and should be curbed in favor of less obsessive ways of keeping up on what's going on.

 

[darkblitzrc]

Na, you're not crazy to think people have an obligation to stay informed. OP shouldn't stop reading all news. However, the behavior he described is unhealthy and should be curbed in favor of less obsessive ways of keeping up on what's going on.

Yeah makes sense!

 

[John Salmon]

Everything is good in moderation. I think you just need to set a timer and literally stop after your max time. To stop thinking about it during the day I recommend meditating!

 

[blackbeans]

You may want to DISPLACE your old habits instead of trying to REPLACE them....

This is the #1 reason why so many people fail with diets, quitting smoking, etc...

They seek to REPLACE

The problem is the REPTILIAN portion of the human mind doesn't like CHANGE so it will UNDERMINE your efforts to CHANGE your life

ADD things to your daily routine and associate POSITIVE emotional states to those activites

Pretty soon, you'll be free of your negative habits