The No News Challenge

Today is May 16, 2020. The world is in a lockdown and in fear of the coronavirus and its consequences.

Normally, I would be extremely busy with work right now. But instead I am home day after day waiting this thing out.

I have decided today to stop checking the news. Since this started, I have felt compelled to know exactly what is going on. In the end though, it only makes me feel more anxiety, uncertainty and general negativity about everything. I don't need to know exactly what is going on. I already know what I need to know. Social distancing. Face masks. Staying home for many months. Being careful with my finances. I don't need to know the exact death toll in my country. I don't need to know about the projections. I can focus on other things.

This being said, I will still be exposed to the news anyway. Which is fine. I will see things pop up on Facebook. People will send me links to articles via text. I will hear things word of mouth or on the TV in the background as someone else is watching it. Which is fine.

This challenge is more about avoiding intentional action to check the news. To get online, and go directly to my favorite news source's homepage. I don't need to know most things that get reported. I already know what I need to know to direct my behavior as it runs its course.

Feel free to join me. Today is Day zero.

 

Almost at one day.

Before I gave up the news, I read an article about gossiping being something that actually evolved as a survival mechanism back in prehistoric times. Survival was not easy, so it was important to know as much as you could. Where to find resources, where to stay away from, who was friendly and helpful and who was dangerous, etc. Those who were in the know had a greater chance of survival and this trait has been passed down and exists in all of us to this day.

So there is an instinctual need to stay informed. I feel that most people who check the news have this inner feeling that it's something important that they need to know, and do not view it as merely entertainment.

With this in mind, I have replaced the news with something else to meet my need to be informed. This is dailyartmagazine.com which has a massive amount of short, easy to read articles about art. When I felt that pull to check the news yesterday, I went here and read three articles and felt better. I will keep doing this.

I will not post here every day as in the daily PMO challenges, since I have included a no-news counter in my signature. But feel free to do so yourself if you wish. I will only post when I have specific thoughts on the subject.

 

It's over one week now since I last checked the news. It has helped a lot. I would say that the mental space that the corona crisis took up in my head a week ago has reduced to about 20-25%. (75-80% less). I feel more like I am on a stay-at-home break, than being in the middle of a pandemic.

I feel like the Olympics for me is a good analogy. When the Olympics are going on, there is tons of media coverage and everyone is talking about it. But I never really cared about the Olympics so I never really paid attention. I never really knew what was going on in the events, or medal counts, or anything much really. I only knew that the Olympics were going on around me, and that things were happening, and that's it. And that's kind of how I feel about corona now. It's something that's going on in the world, but I don't have much of a front-and-center awareness of it.

Good stuff. I am definitely going to keep avoiding the news. I have been using the dailyartmagazine.com website as a substitute, especially reading it right before I go to sleep. Apart from learning about art, it is helping me fall asleep faster as a wind-down activity.

 

Two weeks now. All good. Came across some corona news randomly a few times through email, background TV, etc. and it gave me little spikes in anxiety. Then went on with my days and forgot about it.

 

Thanks man! Yes, it is so true to be aware of what is toxic for you. Many people have toxic behaviors that they don't even realize is toxic. I too have reduced my facebook time a lot, as well as checking my emails. I even restrict myself to NoFap for only certain hours of the day.

 

Yes BammBan, that is exactly how I feel. And it's surprising to me how when I created this challenge I didn't identify the 'rabbit hole' as one of the reasons. I was focused on the effects of the news itself. I too fall down the rabbit hole, endlessly clicking from one news story to the next. It is addictive. And then I realize how much time I spent on it and feel like shit, and also feel drained. Which makes me want to turn to porn. In fact, in the past, when I came home from work, the routine would be to check the news or facebook first, and then go to porn. It was a natural progression.

I'm happy to hear that this challenge is benefiting you. I hope the counter works for you.

 

So I got wind of all the riots going on in the USA. This is my country, and I specifically heard about insane shit going on in Washington DC right now, which is where I'm supposed to be for work at this moment. I'm not there because of the corona situation. I felt that this was important, so I made an exception to check this news specifically. I made sure not to go to the news websites (where I would be exposed to everything else too) but instead just googled the specific things I wanted to know about. It is very unnerving stuff.

My streak continues, because I am still being true to the challenge the way I laid it out in post #1.

That being said...

.... this still applies, and I will keep this thought front and center moving forward.