No News = Happier

When Ferguson exploded I had this immediate reaction that I wanted to "know" more about what was going on. So, I turned on the news that Monday morning and logged into Facebook and Twitter to see what was being said by all the "experts".

After all, I work in north county a few days a week, I was listing a home for sale in Ferguson a mile from the Quiktrip, our company manages many rental homes in Ferguson and thus - I had many rational and logical reasons to know what is going on.

From then on, I was constantly listening to news on the radio, turning on the TV - then changing channels for more "news"... I was checking my Facebook feed and reloading my twitter feed... I was searching hashtags and clicking links and and and... Essentially, my brain became addicted to the situation and Insanity had taken over.

In the case of Ferguson... What was I going to do about anything going on? Nothing. Was it directly affecting me in any moment in time? No. Was the 'news' I was learning helping me make any decisions in my life? No. Is my opinion about Ferguson important? No. Do I have enough factual information to even have an opinion? No.

In the case of anything else on the local or national or political or business news... What was I going to do about any of it? Nothing. Was it directly affecting me in any moment in time? No. Was the 'news' I was learning helping me make any decisions in my life? No. Does anyone care about my opinion of any of it? No.

When discovering something brings me no positive benefit there is only one sane choice - it must be eliminated. Thus, 'No News' began. 

I am not sure of the exact date, I now likely have over 60 days of no news. Now I can't 100% avoid the news with a computer and iPhone, so I'm not perfectly avoiding it; I have installed a filter over what I am allowing in my brain. I see posts and make a choice to not read them, engage with them, comment on them. It's difficult sometimes, I read a headline and want to click the link and get sucked in, so it's still an active effort. Progress not perfection!

What have I found since doing this?
- I'm generally happier and more positive
- More time to do what I want to do
- Less worry and anxiety over things I cannot control
- Better communication/connections with people as I don't default to discussing the news
- I have not missed one news event which directly affected me as no news events have directly affected me