By Jemma Dooreleyers
As a journalism student, an important part of being in the program is keeping up to date on everything that is happening in the news. From international, to national, to local; it’s all important and it’s all something we need to constantly be looking at.
Most of the time, this is doable. You keep your news notifications on, you read all the headlines, you go on incognito mode to read the New York Times so you don’t go over their article limit. However, there is something that journalism professors don’t always keep in mind when they are asking you to keep up to date on the news.
News is almost always heavy and as a student who already has enough stress in their life, it can be overwhelming to see everything that is going wrong with the world. Constantly refreshing the news and looking at images of war and shootings and famine all day long is bad for your mental health. So, I curated some tips from my fellow journos and here is what I came up with.
1. Get an app that shames you for looking at other apps when you’re supposed to be focusing
May I suggest the Forest app? It’s this adorable little app that lets you plant a tree when you haven’t used your phone to procrastinate for a designated amount of time. If you leave the app, the tree will die. The minimum time you have to stay there is 10 minutes and if you try to leave early, the app guilts you and says things like: “Are you sure you want to kill this tree?” It is actually quite effective if you’re a sucker like me.
A screenshot of the Forest App shaming me for killing my tree.
2. Meditate or do an activity that takes you away from your phone
A picture of me hiding from the world in my bed. (JAKE GEISLER/RYERSON UNIVERSITY)
When I am feeling overwhelmed, I like to set an alarm for 15 minutes, crawl under my blankets and try not to think about anything for awhile. Some people like to go on runs. To each their own, I guess.
3. Treat the News like you are in the 1950’s and you are a father reading the newspaper with your coffee
(ANDERS NORD/UNSPLASH)
Don’t check the news past 6 p.m. and don’t look at it again until 8 a.m. If it worked for your grandfather, it will work for you.
4. Turn off the notifications of all of your news apps and designate a time to look at them
I know this is hard because applications are an easy way to know your news without actually reading it because you just get all of the headlines. If you designate a time everyday to read the news, it is less likely to overwhelm you because you’re in a focused mindset.
5. Get your news from newspapers
If you get your news solely from news apps it is very easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of content they are pushing everyday. If you get your news from a newspaper instead, you will be able to get most of the same stuff, just more filtered. I understand this can be a financial burden, especially since less newspapers are delivering to campus now (Ryerson misses you, Toronto Star). My best strategy is lurking around a coffee shop until someone more financially stable than me discards their newspaper on the table and grab it as soon as possible. Works every time.
An accurate representation of me stealing a nice old man’s newspaper. (PEXEL)