What happens if you don't consume any news for 30 days? That's exactly what we want you to know with the Waive News Challenge encourage.
Our earth is on the verge of collapse. The climate catastrophe is imminent, wars on our doorstep, extreme parties are gaining power, the financial crisis is looming and even at the local level, someone has always done something wrong.
As soon as we turn on the TV, read the newspaper or consume news on the Internet, we notice again and again how bad the world is. Apparently it goes with the earth and its inhabitants steeply downhill and it gets worse every day. You feel so powerless and at the mercy. Somehow this "hopelessness" pulls you down and is constantly present in your life.
Enough of this nonsense!
We are not lateral thinkers here who deny facts, nor do we want to close our eyes to reality. Nevertheless, we strongly advise you to completely abstain from news for a month.
Rolf Dobelli has written a great book about this entitled "The art of digital living"in which he dedicates himself exactly to this topic. He also gives the very clear recommendation "Try it out and see what it's like to go without news completely for 30 days. You will not miss anything and you will feel better“.
A new challenge every Monday and Thursday! Stay informed!
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Why can news harm us?
Fear must never be your advisor
You probably know the feeling that you are increasingly stressed, unsettled and frightened by all the bad news. But is this the basis on which you want to lead your life? When we are afraid, our basic instincts kick in and we increasingly lose the ability to act rationally. But you should not allow this under any circumstances, because fear has never been a good advisor.
The mass of news is the problem
Dobelli did research for his book and found out that we are bombarded with about 60 pieces of bad news every day. But honestly, are they relevant to you? I don't want to give the impression that it would be good to close your eyes, but you have a sphere of influence that you must and should control and there are things that you cannot influence. Why should you let yourself be dragged down by a collapsed coalition government in Italy, an attack in Mali or a stupid remark by Donald Trump? What influence do these things have for you personally? NONE!
The opinion volcano
Messages have the purpose of capturing attention through striking and short messages and represent only a very limited view of the topic under discussion. Again, the phrase "if it's simple, it's usually wrong" applies. These simple messages have the purpose that I get excited and I want to talk about it and I immediately have an opinion about it. Dobelli therefore calls this "Opinion volcano". You can see what this can lead to just by looking at how Donald Trump has managed to influence millions of Americans with short and striking messages.
So if you really want to form an opinion on a topic relevant to you, inform yourself extensively and not with lurid news.
From stress hormones
Bad news creates stress hormones in your body, such as cortisol. According to a study, over 50% of Americans suffer from these stress hormones, which are increasingly released after consumption of news. So news has a direct, negative impact on your health.
In tunnel vision
In Germany, 3 people currently die each year from terrorist attacks, while 3,000 people lose their lives in traffic accidents. But what is reported on more? And what does that do to you, to us? We get a tunnel vision controlled by news and it becomes more and more difficult to make a realistic assessment of the situation.
Algorithms are smart and serve more of the same
Modern algorithms recognize your news consumption behavior on the Internet and serve you more of it. This gives you the feeling that a certain topic is dominant, although only you are specifically provided with this information.
Bad news makes you passive
Maybe you've noticed this too, but people tend to be passive after consuming bad news. True to the motto "Why should I learn something new now, when the earth is about to fall?". I admit, the example is greatly exaggerated, but you understand what I mean....
How to protect yourself from messages
- Don't set your radio alarm clock exactly to a time when news is broadcast (usually every half hour). Usually it is enough five minutes later, there you can at least hear the weather.
- Consume less social media (see also our challenges "Digital Detox” and “Master of digital Consumption”).
- If you use the internet, set a neutral website as your homepage (e.g. the pages of the Timeless Challenge) 😉 and not a news site like Spiegel Online, BILD, FAZ etc.
- Pay attention to serious sources to deal with complex topics. Books, weekly newspapers, podcasts etc. are suitable for this.
- Talk to your kids about how to consume news wisely and what the pitfalls can be.
- Dobelli proposes a 30-day challenge in which you completely do without news. This involves deleting news apps and trying to take in as little news as possible. After that, he says, the first effects should become apparent. And then you can also continue this news diet. And so we come back to the "Waive News” Challenge 🙂
Life Score points and the marbles for the Waive News Challenge.
Have you managed to spend a month without messages? How do you feel? Well, in any case you have 5 Life-Score Punkte sowie die wunderschöne, durchsichtige Murmel (22mm Durchmesser) aus dem Bereich “Emotionen” verdient.
This way you can take part the Waive News Challenge
- Register on this page! Once registered, you can take part in all our challenges with this account.
- Nun heißt es jeden Tag auf Nachrichten zu verzichten und dafür angenehme Dinge zu tun.
- Wenn Du das 30-Tage-lang geschafft hast, füll bitte das Formular unten aus und Du bekommst von uns (kostenlos) die Murmel und die Life-Score Punkte gutgeschrieben. Easy, oder?
Eine genaue Beschreibung des Tools findest Du in unserem Booklet
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The Waive News Challenge in Social Media
You're supposed to be doing less social media! No seriously.... if you want to share your experience, then do that. Maybe it will help other people as well.
Die Waive News Challenge auf Facebook
We invite you to join our group "Emotions" in Facebook.
- #timelesschallenge (show that you like the idea)
- #tcwaivenews