There is definitely a feeling of, like, say, I check, you know, Twitter first thing in the morning when I wake up.

And there's just the sense of, oh, my God, like, you know, a fascist regime is imminent.

The environment is collapsing.

You know, that, like, gloom and doom sense of, like, it's a relentless bad news and no one cares except for the other people in my Twitter feed and we're not real anyway. That feeling is not a feeling that I have when I consume news like in the newspaper in

quite the same way.

I'm Jocelyn K. Gly, and this is Hurry Slowly, a podcast about pacing yourself, where I explore

how you can improve your focus

and expand your creativity through the simple act of slowing down.

This episode zeroes in on what is perhaps the single biggest drag on our attention and our

energy here in the dumpster fire, otherwise known as the year 2017.

And that's an exceedingly toxic news cycle.

Acts of violence, intolerance, and political acrimony pulsed through our news feeds

and into our bloodstreams like pure anxiety from an IV drip that we voluntarily plug

ourselves into every day.

And I know I've been wondering, and I think we've all been wondering,

isn't there a better way?

Is it possible to stay in touch with what's going on in the world

without having this constant feeling of panicky despair?

And what's the best way to manage our media intake

so that we can remain vigilant and be good citizens without

getting overwhelmed or starting to feel apathetic. To help me wrestle with these not so easy

to answer questions, I enlisted Anne Friedman, a whipsmart writer who wears many hats in the

...