I’m Drowning, and You Probably Are Too
Look, I’ve been editing news for 22 years. Twenty-two. That’s a lot of headlines, a lot of breaking news alerts, a lot of ‘can you believe this?’ moments. And honestly? I’m exhausted. I think we all are.
It’s not just me. Last Tuesday, I was at a conference in Austin, and I asked every person I met: “When was the last time you felt caught up?” You know what they said? (Well, most of them, after some hemming and hawing.) They said never. Never felt caught up. Never felt like they’d succesfully processed the last news cycle before the next one hit.
We’re in a quiet crisis, folks. A crisis of information overload, of constant alertness, of never-ending news. And it’s physicaly and mentally draining us.
News Used to Have a Schedule
Remember when news happened in the morning and at night? When you’d wake up, read the paper, watch the 6 o’clock news, then that was it. Done. Until tomorrow. I do. I remember it fondly. It was simpler then. Easier. Less… alot.
Now? Now news is a firehose. It’s a 24/7 stream of information that never stops, never pauses, never gives us a moment to breathe. And it’s killing us. Literally. Stress does that. Chronic stress, the kind you get from constantly feeling like you’re behind, like you’re missing out, like you can’t keep up… that kinda stress is bad news.
I mean, take a look at my friend Marcus. Let’s call him Marcus because, honestly, he’s kinda private. Marcus is a smart guy, works in tech, always been on top of things. But about three months ago, he hit a wall. Couldn’t sleep, couldn’t focus, always anxious. Turns out, he was spending 6 hours a day consuming news. Six hours. That’s a part-time job, folks.
We’re Not Equipped for This
Here’s the thing: our brains aren’t wired for this. We’re not equipped to process this much information, this quickly. We’re not equipped to be always on, always alert, always ready for the next big thing. We’re human. We need downtime. We need quiet. We need to turn off the noise and just… be.
But the news cycle doesn’t care about what we need. It cares about clicks, about views, about engagement. It cares about keeping us hooked, keeping us coming back for more. And it’s succesfully doing just that.
I get it, I do. I’ve been on the other side of this. I’ve been the one saying “we need more, we need faster, we need now.” But even I’m starting to think we’ve gone too far. Even I’m starting to think that maybe, just maybe, we need to slow down.
So What Do We Do?
Great question. I don’t have all the answers. But I have some ideas. Some smart shopping tips money saving ones, even.
First, we need to stop glorifying busyness. We need to stop wearing our exhaustion as a badge of honor. News is important, yes. But it’s not more important than your health. It’s not more important than your sanity.
Second, we need to set boundaries. Turn off the alerts. Designate specific times for news consumption. And stick to them. It’s like smart shopping tips money saving — you gotta have a budget, right? Same thing applies here. You gotta have a limit.
Third, we need to talk about this. We need to have honest conversations about the toll this is taking on us. We need to support each other in finding a better way. Because right now? Right now, we’re all just kinda flailing around, trying to keep our heads above water.
And finally, we need to remember that it’s okay to miss something. It’s okay to not know every detail, every update, every breaking news alert. It’s okay to step back, to take a breath, to say “I’ll catch up later.” Because honestly? Most of it will still be there later. And if it’s not? Well, that’s what friends are for, right?
Oh, and One More Thing
This isn’t about ignoring the news. It’s not about sticking our heads in the sand. It’s about finding a sustainable way to stay informed, to stay engaged, without letting it consume us. Without letting it become our entire lives.
Because at the end of the day, news is just that: news. It’s not who we are. It’s not what defines us. It’s not what makes us who we are. We are so much more than that. We are so much more than our committment to the 24-hour news cycle.
So let’s find a better way. Let’s find a way to stay informed without losing ourselves in the process. Let’s find a way to be human again.
Because honestly? We deserve that. We deserve to be more than just our news consumption. We deserve to be more than just our stress and our anxiety and our constant state of alert. We deserve to be more than that. And I, for one, am done settling for less.
About the Author
Sarah Thompson has been a senior editor at CTENews.com for 22 years. She’s seen it all, done it all, and has the caffeine addiction to prove it. When she’s not editing, she’s probably complaining about the news cycle, drinking coffee, or trying to convince her cat to cuddle.
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