Managing chaos: Treat the news like nutrition.

Managing chaos: information flow aka "news"
The news was never designed for empowerment beyond delivering [typically problematic] information and I definitely know there are plenty of folks who set up to capitalize on that--my recommendation is unless working on the front lines, limit media intake to every 2-3 days rather than daily.

On the flip side for medical professionals--since it's not something folks were prepared to deal with, figuring out things like anticipated case load, updates on medical developments, etc. are really important.

But for medical professionals that means they have very few ways to "leave work at work" and that's bound to lead to major mental health challenges.
So here's my parallel to nutrition:

You can limit screen time + set up a kind of media nutrition plan like you would with kids. During the pandemic, unless you're front-lining or the work/community depends on it once every 2-3 days will get you what you need to know with time to digest, discuss, and share. 

Pre-pandemic, I'd say once a week is enough to be up to date on current events since you can start to track patterns and get summaries rather than ride roller coaster theatrics.

It lets you identify patterns (trends across multiple articles), and manage the flow. It's the same reason why high-performing professionals often prioritize specific times of day for email/social media rather than being plugged in all the time (unless that's their job).

There's also something to be said about:

1) identifying what you can do,

2) what your community can do,

3) and what people in your "community*" can do.

(*whatever that means to you)

Everything else that's beyond your agency and only worth noting as part of the landscape but not engaging--and the landscape shifts periodically just as the earth does in real life if you learn how to watch it.

Focus on hyperlocal/things you can control/change/facilitate for everything else.

8 years later, and the lesson learned
from making this epic meal still applies:
it's possible to overdo the good stuff in one sitting.

You can't eat everything from a grocery store at once. Nor would you eat and drink 12 heavy meals over the course of 12 hours daily, would you?

There's a point when you can overdo the good stuff, and the "news" isn't always made with nor presented as good stuff even when starting with raw ingredients like actual data.

The difference here is that "news" is almost constantly being "fed", if not force-fed to you through your news feed.

Given how most of us in the U.S. haven't been taught how to manage media intake, or even portion sizes for nourishing nutrition, it's not a surprise a lot of people might feel fatigued and overwhelmed.

I find myself needing to be just as mindful about how and what we communicate as I recognize the arc of neurological response when it comes to trauma.
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[[[[ For those who want the actual tool for navigating big messy problems like being in a crisis amid crises--here's a guide to navigating wicked systems/processes I originally made for a symposium:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6ZWASyBqmHHcGFyVkxWNTEyYTA/view?usp=sharing  ]]]]




[Below: a previous writing/response for someone who asked "how do you handle all this news?!?]

The best bet for staving media fatigue is to:

1) if your work+community doesn't rely on 24/7 updates, create structure for yourself--a media diet/regimen that's about 2-3 days.

This is often enough to stay on top of an evolving situation while providing sense of structure, time to digest and recognize patterns or areas to discuss conflicting information..

2) Reverse-engineer and create our own public health and community strategy. Localize how we can make a difference with it.

What's our own roadmap for getting our needs met as a community (or block/family/myself)?

Am I interested and with capacity to influence what happens between neighbors?

my block?

the city?

region? etc.

Who else is doing this and how will we support each other without or even more useful, with strain?

What does straining ourselves look like as a community?

So for #1:
I've started a nascent group of folks across 5 states (CA, IN, MI, NY, VT but mostly Detroit area) who've kept their finger on the pulse of news+education about the pandemic and typically have some background in science or organizing.

As I've seen things, here are our priorities:

0) Stay inside when you can to slow the spread/reduce the risk of spreading -- CDC's social distance and mask guidelines aren't enough

1)Educate, prepare, and hold each other accountable for how to navigate the pandemic with credible information

2) Support Health Care workers (advocate for PPE coordination+delivery, food, mental health, making opportunities for life to exist away from the workplace--celebrate, talk about sports, whatever with them)

3) Support ongoing efforts for improving/supporting existing community priorities and crises like water shutoffs, elder care, incarcerated + detainees and returning citizens, advance collective and cooperative responsibility and economics