Is your media consumption giving you anxiety? Here are 8 ways to chill TF out.
If, like me, you’ve just experienced a minor breakdown as a result of the constant barrage of apocalyptic news, doomsday forecasts, pandemic panic, Trump existing, racists in positions of power, rapists protected by the government, child murderers working in your local pub, social justice warriors being offended, and boomers commenting on social media, then it might be time to change your relationship with the internet.
24-hour news channels need to fuck off for a start. It wasn’t so long ago that we got our news three times a day in 30 minute bursts: The morning news, lunchtime news, and evening news. Now these assholes have got to fill every minute of every day with news until the end of time.
So, how do you keep a channel like that going whilst still remaining competitive with all the other 24 hour news stations? By taking a story that Trevor McDonald would have told in 7 minutes and stretching it out to 7 tedious hours. Filling the time with a shit-ton of dangerous speculation, interviewing the first idiot who walks past Westminster, having a panel of “experts” debating the life choices of someone they’ve never met, by asking antagonising questions and spewing irresponsible statements to stoke the fire in the hope of making the story more interesting so they can squeeze another 7 hours out of it tomorrow.
That’s great for the news channels, but what is all of this doing to me and you? By making the world look so bleak and angry, they are turning us all into anxious, sad, scared creatures who would rather stay at home consuming more terrible content than risk going out to find the good bits of the world that are still left.
Information is being force-fed to us relentlessly through our phones, TVs, computers — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week — and it’s generally pessimistic bullshit that is motivated by ratings as opposed to reporting facts. So, after getting into a couple of arguments with strangers on Facebook, I decided it was probably time to take a break from all of the hype and change the way I gather my information. I’m on Day 7 of the new me, and I feel fantastic already.
If you’d like to give it a try, here are some things you can try to reduce your anxiety-triggering media consumption:
1. Write It Down
Like the arteries of a hungover Glaswegian, your brain has built up a lining of plaque from consuming so much junk. You need to get that shit out. Putting your negative thoughts down in writing means that they don’t need to take up so much space inside your head, you can store them outside and revisit them when and if you feel up to it.
Write an angry letter to no one. Write an article on Medium that no one will read. Write a book. Get a notepad and pen and go sit in a coffee shop and just rant. Create an anonymous post on a forum. Grow a fancy moustache and buy a typewriter, whatever. Just write about how what you read and watch is making you feel.
2. Delete The Apps
Remove Facebook from your phone immediately. Daily Mail? Off you fuck. Delete all branded news apps from your phone. No one needs news every minute of every day.
By doing this I promise you won’t miss out on the important stuff. I have recently done all of the above and I still know what’s going on in the world. The main news stories will still find you as you go about your internet business or talk to your friends, so don’t worry about becoming out of touch. This isn’t about removing the news completely or becoming ignorant, it’s about protecting yourself and allowing the important stuff to reach you at a controlled, digestible pace.
3. Tailor Your Content
Mint green is my favourite colour. I unfollowed all news, crappy celebrities and influencers on Instagram and started following #mintgreen and now my feed looks beautiful and fresh and clean. #webcomics is another good one. If you’re into tech, increase your tech coverage in Google News. Nothing makes you feel better than seeing how close we are to creating an actual holodeck.
Follow your favourite bands, follow beautiful photography, follow people and publications that provide entertainment or constructive information as opposed to just inflammatory reporting or photoshopped beauty.
Here are just a few of my faves:
@myhotelcarpet
@yinindiegaming
@Bethdrawsthings
@jakevideo
@system32comics
@robfranceillustration
@lisalikephotography
@jimllpaintit
@duduimages
@lamebook
@yardsailingtoadventure
Oh, and you can follow me too if you like :) @_jilly_bean_
4. Love Local
Although it’s important to be aware of the bigger picture, it’s not healthy to be constantly fixated on the world’s biggest problems all the time. Things can get very overwhelming very quickly.
Try to focus on what’s directly around you instead. Follow your local news. Find out how your fishermen are doing. What’s the music scene like in your town? Sometimes it can be nice when you feel that the biggest problem in your life is the reduction of bin collection days by your local council. The swines.
5. Jazz It Up
My new favourite thing to do whilst WFH:
Listen to the Positive Jazz live playlist on YouTube and pretend you’re drinking tea and eating French pastries in the lobby of a shmancy hotel in the 1940s.
6. Treat YoSelf
Get a fucking haircut.
Have a fucking bath.
Do some fucking exercise.
Read a fucking book.
7. Join a Yin Yoga Class
Yoga bores me. But this? I came out of this class feeling like I’d had a deep tissue massage, and not a drop of sweat left my body. Give yourself a good stretch in the dark and have a nap at the end bit when you should be meditating.
8. Create
Instead of the world having a negative effect on you, take back control and do something that has a positive effect on the world. I don’t mean join a preachy SJW park clean-up, or lecture strangers about the dolphin hardship. I mean just single-handedly cause something nice to exist. Knit a scarf, paint a picture, make a bookmark out of tampon boxes and glitter. Create a quirky video on Canva. Take some fun photos of your pet and send them to your friends and family.
Being a full-time consumer is selfish. Time has proven over and over again that, in this life, you get out what you put in. So, if all you’re doing is taking, then inevitably you pay the price. We are paying with our mental health, that’s how I feel.
I don’t want to be a bystander to this shit-show. I don’t want to be told how to feel so others can profit. This is my world too, so fuck you, I’m gonna fill it full of mint green hotel carpets and amateur web comics.