happier.com Tip of the Day – Turn off the News!
Just recently, we began asking our users a different question every day about happiness, resilience, stress, anxiety, or other topics related to our mission of inspiring people to be happier and more resilient. One recent poll asked people how they felt after watching the news on TV. Not surprisingly, 32% of those polled said it made them “less happy” and 46% of those polled said it made them “depressed.” Only 3% answered our poll by saying that the news made them feel “happier.”
So, the tip of the day…turn off the news! One thing that happens when we watch news on TV is that we watch what the networks want us to watch. They prioritize the news each day and present it to us. If keeping up with the day’s events is important to you, I suggest you read your favorite newspaper. You will get more information per story (Walter Cronkite actually tried to read the front page of the New York Times on the nightly news and couldn’t get through it…) and (more importantly) you get to choose what’s important to you.
If reading AND watching the news still makes you feel worse, you have an opportunity to learn a little more about yourself. Take a minute to dig deeper. Use the Control Negative Thoughts exercise on a regular basis to determine what it is with the news that is bothering you. It’s a simple, but powerful process that has helped thousands of people beat back their pessimism and develop a realistic optimism.
Not keeping up with current events altogether is probably not a very good option as the media can provide us with important information about our health, money, and other topics. So, when the news gets too negative turn it off or learn to turn off those negative thoughts.
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I tend to have days where I avoid all news; be that TV, Newspapers, Internet etc. I do indeed find it all depressing filled with murder and death.
There are a few websites out there that deal with “good news” although I think they are mostly US centric which is a shame.
Steve – Thanks for your comment. I tend to avoid the TV news but feel compelled to read the news every day. I just pick the stories that I want to read.
As for sites filled with “good news,” try out http://www.happynews.com/. Their lead story today is focused on the Dominican Republic. Thanks!
This and the time consuming aspect is the reason why I am trying to read weekly general news sources like The Nation, instead of getting up to the minute CNN news coverage or tweets.
Hans – Good point. In fact, CNN just ran an interesting piece on Twitter and how it is being criticized for its negative effects on the depth of news. Thanks for your comment.