It’s been something like 9 days since I gave up reading the news and all forms of social media feeds. And it feels… strange!
The first thing is that it’s really odd just how quickly something that seemed so important and relevant can feel so completely distant and irrelevant.
I’m speaking, of course, of the pandemic. So far I’m fortunate enough to not have suffered any losses personally or professionally as a result. And my day-to-day is virtually unaffected, since I already stayed at home most of the time to work even before the pandemic, and most of the activities I do for fun aren’t really impacted either.
So in any given day, it really feels as though there is zero impact to my life as a result. And when I’m not reading about it or talking about it, eventually it ceases to feel important.
I’ve also been extremely productive during this time. In addition to having more time to do things, I also feel better and am more motivated.
So I’m really starting to wonder about the actual cost of reading and caring about the daily news.
Clearly I’m not advocating total ignorance, but really, the vast majority of news has no impact on me at all, and of the remainder, I typically have no ability to change.
So ultimately, the rewards of keeping up every day are virtually non-existent, but the cost is extremely high.
While I think I’ll still check in from time-to-time, I think I just need to acknowledge that following most news is just another form of mindless entertainment with no benefit other than killing time; just like social media, most television, and (in my humble opinion) sports viewership.
I am better off without it.