Overall, I’ve been quite successful in wiping out the vast majority of mindless entertainment that I used to consume. And with it, I’ve found that I have much more energy (and time) to be productive and also focus on things that I actually care about.
But one of the remaining forms is maybe a little surprising: the news.
When I’m bored and need a distraction, I just go to Google News and scroll through and pick a couple articles to read. It seems like a good thing, right? Keeping up-to-date on what’s happening in the world.
I think there are two problems with this:
- I’m using it just to distract myself and to be entertained (also way too frequently)
- I would argue it’s a terrible way to truly learn about the world and current events in a meaningful, impactful way
I could go on about the second point for ages and probably will (or have?) at some point, but the first point is still equally relevant and the moment. I’m not going to the news in order to fulfill a need to be informed: I’m going to be entertained.
And that’s the problem.
I think it’s a huge problem that we all have this need to be constantly entertained now, and I want to be very intentional about how I spend my time and especially how I consume entertainment.
This is not an important one to me, and I need to start taking measures to ensure I don’t do this anymore.